01101100011011110111011001100101
by Lady Tsuru27
Summary: Tetsuhiro has been keeping a secret, but when Souichi finds out he uses it to his advantage...
1. Retrospection

**Disclaimer: I do not own Koisuru Boukun. If I did, I would actually know what happens in the epilogue… T_T**

**Warnings: AU, cursing, mild sex scenes, and oddness aplenty. **

**Summary: Tetsuhiro has been keeping a secret from his senpai, and Souichi plans to use it to his advantage…**

**Notes: OK, I'll let you know right now that this is sort of a crossover of another manga series, though not really enough to include it in the crossover section. What can I say? I have an odd obsession with science fiction… **

Chapter 1: Retrospection

In many ways, Souichi could say that his life was strange. He had seen many strange things before, had encountered many strange people, and even his love life was abnormal (not that he would admit it was a love life at all). Still, he had to say that he would never have guessed that he would end up in the situation he was in now. He supposed he had it coming; sure, he had been a jerk to people. Sure, he had done some things that could be considered downright mean. But to wind up in this place? He didn't think he deserved it. Surely karma was kinder than this. He wasn't usually one to speculate on the workings of the gods (if they existed), but at that moment he was hoping that they were indeed real and that they would hear his silent prayers.

What was it about an all-out fight to the death between two machines that brought out the philosopher in people?

To be fair, he was partially at fault, and he admitted it. Then he looked to his left; Isogai was sitting on the ground, looking alarmed and a little embarrassed. Souichi thought that he should at least feel that way, and much worse. After all, it was mostly Isogai's fault. Still, there was no sense in playing the blame game. All he could do now was try to dodge the flying debris and remember the day that his life took a detour through the Twilight Zone…

VVVVV

"MORINAGA!" Souichi's shout echoed down the halls of N. University, but by now student and faculty alike were used to it. They had been hearing that very same call for several years now, and they almost didn't even hear it any more. It could be said that a person's seniority in the school could be deduced simply by how they reacted to this familiar cry. The newest ones, the freshmen, would jump a little. Those in their second semester would turn their heads, but not think much about it. By the third year, it was routine enough not to be noticed.

This familiar scream was followed by a crash, another common sound coming from the direction of the agricultural sciences lab. Inside, Tetsuhiro was scrambling to follow Souichi's orders as quickly as he could. He panted a little as he skidded to a stop beside his seated upperclassman, whose hand was already held out to receive the much hunted-for cotton swab.

"Don't tell me you forgot where they were again!" Souichi snapped as he applied solution to his specimens.

"No, I think someone moved them again," Tetsuhiro said, defending his intelligence despite the futility of it. There was no arguing once Souichi had decided to accuse him of something.

"Don't blame others for your stupidity!"

"Senpai…"

"What?" Souichi's tone dissipated the argument brewing between them. Tetsuhiro backed off.

"Nothing! I didn't say anything!"

The day continued in much the same pattern. Souichi was feeling a bit irritated, to say the least. Tetsuhiro couldn't help but notice it. The older man barely spoke to him unless it was to give him an order, and Tetsuhiro didn't know how long he could put up with it before mentioning it. Doing so would only make things worse. He knew this, yet when evening came and his senpai didn't relax at all he decided to broach the subject.

They had already gotten home before Tetsuhiro worked up the nerve to mention it, but he hoped that being in comfortable surroundings would put Souichi at ease.

"Um, Senpai, you know…" Tetsuhiro began.

"What?" Souichi's voice carried the threat of death in it, yet Tetsuhiro persisted.

"You've been really tense today. Is something the matter?"

"No."

"But you're really uptight today. I mean, you yelled at a little girl…"

"She was asking for it, getting in my way like that!" Souichi tossed his book aside and got off of the couch. Walking to the fridge, he pulled out a can of beer and opened it. It was refreshing, but still not what he needed.

"Senpai, what's wrong?"

Souichi said nothing; he just sat down again, practically chugging his beer. If he were honest with himself, he would admit that he was going absolutely crazy from lack of physical contact. He wasn't being the least bit honest with himself, though, and the part of his mind that was trying to think of any excuse was just thinking of more things to irritate him. No matter how ticked off he got, the other part of his mind constantly reminded him that it had been almost a month since he had been to bed with Tetsuhiro.

"Senpai?"

"What?" Souichi was not in the mood to put up with a worried Tetsuhiro. In fact, looking at the other man made him feel fuzzy in the head. _"What is wrong with me?" _he thought, crushing the now-empty beer can and tossing it across the room. It barely cleared the rim of the garbage can.

"Are you angry with me about something?" Tetsuhiro pressed on timidly.

"Does it always have to be about you?"

"Well, no, but… Senpai, if there's something bothering you, you can tell me. Get it off your chest."

"Who says there's anything bothering me?"

"You've been really angry lately…"

"I'm not angry!" Souichi stood again, going for another beer, "I'm just thinking, that's all!" His quest for alcohol was interrupted when Tetsuhiro grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the fridge and back onto the couch.

"Beer won't solve your problems," Tetsuhiro said sternly, "Now tell me what's wrong."

"Morinaga…" Each syllable was a warning.

"Senpai, what's bothering you?" Tetsuhiro nearly demanded, but faltered for a minute. "Wait…" his eyes went wide when he realized that Souichi was blushing.

"What is it, you idiot?"

"Senpai, are you…"

"Am I what?" Souichi pushed Tetsuhiro back, standing up and stalking towards his room. "I'm just tired tonight, so stop bothering me! I'm going to…" He didn't have time to finish that statement; Tetsuhiro was suddenly hugging him from behind.

"Are you feeling a little neglected…?" Tetsuhiro whispered, causing shivers to creep up Souichi's spine. God, he loved it when he did that…

And yet he hated it. "Get off of me!" Souichi backhanded the younger man, jerking away and spinning around to glare at him. "Why is it that THAT is your solution to everything?"

"It is not!" Tetsuhiro whined, holding his bruised cheek, "It's just that… Just now on the couch, you seemed…"

"Yeah?" Souichi pulled him close, glaring daggers. Tetsuhiro gulped. The long-haired man was practically daring him to finish that statement, and Tetsuhiro knew that he would really be in trouble if he did. Still, he decided to just plunge ahead and say it.

"You seemed kind of… Well, even now, you're…" he glanced down between them, and Souichi followed his gaze. His face went bright red when he realized that he had a hard-on.

"…horny?" Tetsuhiro finished.

Uttering that word turned out to be a huge mistake.

With a cry of rage and embarrassment, Souichi punched Tetsuhiro square in the nose. The taller man staggered back, stumbling into what he thought would be the wall. Instead of solid plaster, however, he met open air. The large windows were open to allow the pleasant spring breeze into the apartment, and Tetsuhiro tripped on the low sill. Before either of them could realize what was happening, Tetsuhiro fell out of the window.

It wasn't a deadly fall, but two floors was a tall enough height to seriously injure someone, if not kill them. Souichi rushed to the window as soon as he registered, after the initial shock, what had happened. His heart pounding, he looked down into the street. To his amazement, Tetsuhiro was sitting up. More than that, he seemed relatively unharmed. A little unsteady, but otherwise in one piece.

He didn't take much time to think it over. He dashed for the door, down the stairs, and around the building. "Morinaga!" he shouted, stopping at the sitting man's side.

"Oh, Senpai," Tetsuhiro said, seeming a little embarrassed. His right hand covered his left shoulder. "I- I'm fine, I just…"

"You moron!" Tetsuhiro wasn't surprised to receive a kick to the head. "You could have kicked the bucket, you know! What are you doing falling out of the window?"

"Wha - Senpai, you were the one who punched me!"

"Because you said something stupid! Dammit, are you OK?" Souichi crouched down and grabbed the hand that was covering Tetsuhiro's shoulder.

"Ah! No, Senpai, I'm OK!" Tetsuhiro jerked away, keeping his hand firmly clamped in place.

"Don't be stupid!" Souichi scoffed, "I can see blood! Just let me take a look at it!"

"Really, I'm fine! It's just a scrape," Tetsuhiro tried to move to stand, but cursed under his breath when he couldn't. Souichi took the opportunity to twist Tetsuhiro's wrist away from the shoulder, drawing a cry of pain from him.

"Let's see…" he adjusted his glasses and peered at the wound. He blinked, then blinked again. His eyes widened, and he looked into Tetsuhiro's face. Then he looked back down at the wound. Tetsuhiro looked away, hiding his face in his bangs, and a small tremor went through him. Souichi just kept staring at the wound.

Visible beneath the torn fabric and skin, stained by the flowing blood, was a pale gleam – not of bone, but of metal.

**TBC**

**Well, what could this mean? I've already got it all planned out. Oh, and any guesses which manga this idea is inspired from? Feel free to give me feedback! :)**


	2. The Name of the Game is Denial

**Notes: Thanks for the reviews, lactase and DarkFlameTailz! ^_^ I'm feeling inspired, so here's the next chapter! This is what I do rather than spend time on school work… Oh, well. Oh, and just to clarify: this takes place sometime between volumes six and seven, before Masaki enters the picture. **

Chapter 2: The Name of the Game is Denial

"It was just a trick of the light," Tetsuhiro sighed for the umpteenth time, reclining on the couch and shifting his arm gently.

"I know what I saw!" Souichi fumed, standing over the younger man menacingly. "That was metal, no doubt about that! And not to mention you came out of that fall pretty much unharmed! What the hell are you **made **of?"

"Senpai, really, it wasn't a long fall. And it was dark out there! And besides, the scrape wasn't deep enough to get to the bone."

"Exactly," Souichi leaned in closer, narrowing his eyes, "It was a shallow cut, nothing more. Yet there was something hard and shiny there. What was it?"

"It's nothing, Senpai!" Tetsuhiro tried to stand, but was pushed back down. "OW!" he cried as his upperclassman's unyielding hand pushed right on the wound, "That hurt! Why'd you have to push there?"

"Because I wanted to see what it felt like, and it certainly didn't feel like muscle!"

"You're just being paranoid! What do you think I am, some kind of robot?"

"How do I know you're not?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Then explain the metal!"

"OK, fine!" Tetsuhiro gave a frustrated sigh, lowering his gaze to the floor, "I had an accident when I was little, and the doctors had to put a metal rod into the bone to keep it straight."

"…That's it?" Souichi raised an eyebrow, incredulous.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"Well, you'd probably call me clumsy or stupid!" Tetsuhiro whined.

"I do that anyway," visibly more relaxed, Souichi flopped onto the couch. "Like just now, falling out the window like that…" he said, ignoring Tetsuhiro's muttered correction that he had been the one to make him fall, "It's a good thing your ass is so soft, because you really could have gotten hurt!"

"You think my butt's soft?"

It took a moment for that comment to sink in, but when it did Tetsuhiro had to leap out of the way to avoid being kicked again. "You know what I meant!" he shouted, then stood up angrily. "You probably did that on purpose! Falling out the window just so I'd worry… You're the worst!"

"I did not!"

Souichi didn't answer; he stormed out of the room, slamming his bedroom door behind him. "I'm going to bed!" he announced.

"…Good night…" Tetsuhiro sighed, slumping over the back of the couch. Softly, quietly, he muttered, "That was close…"

VVVVV

The next morning, things were just as awkward between the two. They worked in the laboratory in silence, though Souichi's previous anger had seemed to dissipate a bit. Instead, he was quiet; it wasn't something that Tetsuhiro was grateful for. A silent Souichi sometimes meant dangerous schemes being put into motion later, so Tetsuhiro made sure to watch his back as much as he could.

Gradually, however, Tetsuhiro noticed that Souichi was doing the same thing; he was watching Tetsuhiro whenever he thought the younger man was occupied. Either he was planning something, or he was checking out his behind. Tetsuhiro seriously doubted that it was the second explanation.

"How's your wound?" Souichi asked suddenly, causing Tetsuhiro to nearly drop his clipboard.

"Uh, it's OK. Th- thank you for asking…"

"Hmph. You can't help me much if you're injured, can you?"

"Yeah, that's true…" Tetsuhiro sighed.

There was a moment of intense silence, and then Souichi said, "Let me see it."

"What?"

"Your wound. Let me examine it."

Tetsuhiro was beginning to get frightened. His senpai was standing with his back to him, but he was obviously messing with something. Tetsuhiro almost expected to see a drill and a scalpel raised before him, accompanied by maniacal laughter. "Wh- why?" he asked, "It's just fine!"

"I want to make sure," Souichi turned towards him; indeed, there was a sharp implement in his hand, "Let me cut open the bandage and then re-apply another one. I'll be gentle…" his tone was anything but gentle.

"S- Senpai?"

"Morinaga, get over here this instant."

Tetsuhiro was starting to panic, and that roused Souichi's suspicion even more. Unable to sleep easily the previous night, he had thought about Tetsuhiro's explanation of the metallic shine. It just didn't make sense. For one thing, it was rather vague. He hadn't gone into detail about the accident itself, or about the treatment. For another, the wound had been too shallow to show a rod in the bone. It was almost as if the metal was coated over the muscle.

His kouhai reluctantly walked towards him, almost visibly shaking. "Senpai, really, you don't have to do this…"

"I want to. Now take off your shirt."

"Senpai…" As if Souichi hadn't had enough surprises to last him a lifetime, Tetsuhiro suddenly lunged forward and hugged Souichi tightly. The taller man buried his face in Souichi's neck, and Souichi was too stunned to do anything at first. "You're really that worried about me? Thank you…"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Souichi bellowed, but it was too late. Tetsuhiro was nuzzling that spot behind his ear, and Souichi felt himself losing control. The knife fell to the floor with a clatter of metal on tile. He had wanted this for too long, and now he was giving in without even trying to put up a fight. Inwardly, he cursed himself and he cursed Tetsuhiro, whose hands were now running up and down his sides as he initiated a deep kiss.

The kiss left Souichi weak in the knees, but just as suddenly as he had started, Tetsuhiro pulled back. His cheeks were slightly pink, and he looked down apologetically. "Sorry, Senpai," he mumbled, turning back to his work station and leaving Souichi breathless and horny as hell.

"_Th- that bastard-!" _he thought, clutching the side of the counter. He told himself that it wasn't like he had wanted Tetsuhiro to continue; he was just angry with him for starting that in the first place.

Meanwhile, Tetsuhiro was congratulating himself on his moment of brilliance. Leaving Souichi hot and bothered accomplished two things; it distracted him enough to drop the subject of last night's incident, and it enticed him to give in to a night of passion, which Tetsuhiro planned to initiate later. Still, he didn't want to make the man angry. Souichi was focusing so intently on his work that it was obvious he was trying to ignore something. Whether that something was Tetsuhiro or his own feelings, the younger man didn't know. He just hoped it was the latter.

VVVVV

That night, Tetsuhiro wasted no time in testing his luck once again. "Senpai, it's really been a long while…" he whispered into his upperclassman's ear, earning nothing but silence in return. Souichi seemed withdrawn, as if he were determined to stand his ground against this amorous onslaught. "Aren't you feeling a little… needy?"

"I am not!" Souichi scoffed, "You're the only one feeling needy, you horn dog!"

"Senpai, please… I just want to be with you, that's all…"

"You can do that without getting into my pants!"

"But you said you don't mind it," Tetsuhiro reminded him.

"I may not mind it, but I certainly don't like it! And you're always asking me for it!"

"It's been a long while…"

"Not long enough! If you're so horny, go take care of it yourself!"

"Senpai…" Tetsuhiro kept his cool, leaning down to caress all over Souichi's body before he could be pushed away again. This time, Souichi trembled a little. Tetsuhiro knew that he was giving in.

And give in he did. They ended up in Souichi's bed, clothing thrown across the room and hands roaming freely. Tetsuhiro was pleased to note that his senpai was beginning to warm up to his kisses, even kissing back a little. This spurred Tetsuhiro on, and he strove to provide as much pleasure as possible to his beloved.

All-in-all, it was a wild night.

After all was said and done, Souichi lay beside Tetsuhiro, who had fallen into a peaceful sleep. "I'm glad **someone **around here can get some sleep…" Souichi muttered, irritated. He was physically exhausted, it was true, but mentally he was restless. He had been so caught up in passion that he had forgotten what it was he had been so annoyed with before.

Then he remembered; Tetsuhiro's obvious lie.

Slowly, Souichi sat up and shook Tetsuhiro by the shoulder. The slumbering man didn't stir at all. _"Come to think about it," _Souichi thought, _"I don't get to see him asleep that often… He looks so innocent." _He scowled. _"How deceptive! Anyone watching him now would think he's a perfect angel, but he's nothing but a horny demon!" _

With every caution not to disturb the sleeping devil in disguise, Souichi gently shifted the blanket to reveal a bare shoulder. When it was exposed, however, there was nothing to be seen.

Not a single scrape marred the surface of Tetsuhiro's skin.

"That's odd," Souichi muttered, taking a look at the other shoulder just in case he had forgotten which side the wound was on. It was clear, as well. No scrapes, no cuts, no blemishes of any kind. It wasn't even red. The wound was simply gone. "The hell…?" The scientist in him tried to rationalize this strange discovery. Perhaps the wound hadn't been that bad to begin with? However, there had been plenty of blood. Souichi could see the shirt Tetsuhiro had worn yesterday, peeking out of the top of the laundry hamper. Clearly visible in the bright light streaming from the living room was a dark bloodstain. It didn't make sense.

His growing perplexity was stunted when a harsh ring snapped him out of his thoughts. It was Tetsuhiro's cell phone; making as little noise as possible, Souichi crept into the living room to investigate. Yet another surprise awaited him when he reached the device and checked to see who was calling at this hour. It was Tetsuhiro's brother, Kunihiro.

"OK, you can stop with all the weird happenings!" he glanced towards the ceiling, hoping that his request would reach whatever god was up there. Not that he was a man of religion, but there were times when a little divine intervention would be welcomed by anyone. Seeing no sign of cosmic help, Souichi looked back down at the phone in his hand. It had stopped ringing, and a new voice mail had appeared.

This got him thinking… Perhaps he could listen in to see what it was about. If luck would even give him a passing glance, there would be some information in the message that he could use to bribe Tetsuhiro. "He deserves it, after all," he said to himself as he flipped the phone open and clicked the voice message icon, "Lying to me like that, then getting me into bed… That guy has it coming."

If anything, though, the contents of the message only furthered Souichi's annoyance. "I tried to call you, but you must be asleep. You know I don't like communicating via cell phone… Anyway… Don't forget tomorrow's appointment," the deadpan voice of Tetsuhiro's brother said, "The doctor's changed locations, so I'll have to lead you there. Meet me at Café Crepe at eleven thirty. Don't be late."

"_Doctor?" _Souichi thought, setting the phone down, _"What the hell does he need to go to the doctor for? And why would his brother be taking him?" _A terrible thought struck him, and he glanced at his bedroom doorway nervously. _"Is he sick or something? He'd better not be hiding something like that from me! If it turns out he's got some terminal illness, I'll stomp him into the grave myself!" _

Worry compelled him to go back into his room, despite his internal insistence that he didn't care what happened to the secretive moron. "You're such a hassle," he sighed, then gave in to his nagging inner voice and laid down beside the sleeping man. _"You'd better be OK," _he thought, moving close enough to feel his lover's warmth yet staying far enough away so that he felt he could deny it if Tetsuhiro woke up. _"Either way, I'm going to follow you tomorrow… Nothing gets past me, Morinaga!"_

Wanting to get some sleep, he closed his eyes and began drifting off. He had had quite enough to puzzle over that day, and he felt he deserved some rest. However, sleep would elude him again tonight. Just as he was a hair's breadth away from Dream Land, his eyes shot open again. _"What did he mean by, 'I tried to call you'? It's not like we have an apartment phone..." _Mentally slapping himself, Souichi shook his head and closed his eyes once more. _"Whatever. I just misunderstood..." _

**TBC**

**Whoo, second chapter done! I hope it wasn't too lame. I'm trying to make this as much of a mystery as possible until the next chapter (where you'll find out what Tetsuhiro is hiding), but you can probably already guess what it is. Anyway, this is going to be a long fanfic! I estimate somewhere around 15-16 chapters (which is very long for me!), depending on whether or not I consolidate or expand some things, but it could be more. **


	3. Espionage

**Notes: Language warning! There's some strong cursing (a few F-words) to keep Souichi in character, but I'll try not to overload it. Thanks so much to DarkFlameTailz, crismar, and lactase, and to anyone who's reading this! I hope you continue to enjoy the fic! :D**

Chapter 3: Espionage

By now, both Souichi and Tetsuhiro were used to tense moments. Breakfast was no different from the previous day, with both saying very little. Tetsuhiro remained quiet, still a little unsure of the punishment he would receive (if any) for the night before. Souichi, on the other hand, was too conflicted to say much. For one thing, he was still feeling awkward about the previous night's romantic encounter. For another, he was plotting how best to tail Tetsuhiro and Kunihiro without being seen by either. The whole ordeal was beginning to make his head spin, and he burned with a desire to get to the bottom of things as soon as possible; in the midst of his confusion, he didn't even bother to get angry about Tetsuhiro having sex with him.

"Senpai, you should go on to the lab without me today," Tetsuhiro said after half-way finishing his cereal, "I have an appointment."

"Oh, do you?" Souichi tried not to convey any suspicion in his tone.

"Yeah, it's nothing. Just a check-up, that's all."

"I see."

The silence returned, though now it was familiar enough for Tetsuhiro to not feel as if a bomb were about to drop on him. "Uh, are you sure you don't mind?"

"Why would I mind?" Souichi stood up, leaving his dirty dishes on the table. _"Let him clean them up, the sneaky bastard!" _

"I should be able to come to the lab later, so I won't be gone all day," Tetsuhiro said, hoping that his senpai's silence was due to irritation at the sudden announcement rather than the sex.

"Fine with me," Souichi said from the living room. He casually flipped through his notes from the previous day, purposefully ignoring Tetsuhiro's worried looks. He wanted the other man to worry; it served him right for being so horny and for keeping secrets from him. Regardless, he thought, he would find out soon enough what Tetsuhiro was hiding.

Tetsuhiro cleaned the dishes, then joined Souichi on the couch. He was still worried that Souichi was angry with him. "Hey, Senpai…" he started to say, then trailed off and turned to stare out the window.

Souichi almost groaned in annoyance. "I hate it when you do that, you know," he said, flipping through the notes. Tetsuhiro didn't answer. After a moment, Souichi let his anger get the better of him and he slammed the notebook shut. "Morinaga!"

The younger man jumped in his seat. "Sorry, Senpai!" he said, "I tend to get…"

"Lost in thought," Souichi grumbled, "I know. You do it too much. If you have something to say, then say it!"

"But… Senpai, aren't you always telling me not to do that?"

"Well, if we're in public and you want to say some mushy crap, then keep your mouth shut! But we're in our own apartment, so say what you want."

"So can I say that I like your…"

"Say what you want," Souichi cut in, giving his most intimidating glare, "BUT remember that what you say can and will be used against you."

"Right, right!" Tetsuhiro laughed nervously, beginning to feel more at ease. After all, things had been going rather smoothly compared to other "mornings after". Perhaps he was just imagining Souichi's bad mood. Perhaps there wasn't anything to worry about. "Well, I'm going to get ready to go," he said, standing up and walking into his room.

"Fine," Souichi said absent-mindedly, but his eyes followed Tetsuhiro as the other man left the room. "You do that…" he muttered, turning back to his notes. He decided to give Tetsuhiro time to leave the apartment, and then he would follow him from a safe distance. He didn't know where the café was, so he didn't want to lose sight of Tetsuhiro for an instant. Running over his possible routes, he nodded to himself, confident that he could pull it off. He was a man with a plan, and when Souichi had a plan there wasn't anything that could dissuade him.

VVVVV

The café turned out to not be that far from the apartment. Souichi kept to his course, remaining several yards away from Tetsuhiro at all times and staying hidden behind mailboxes, street lights, garbage cans, and other objects as much as possible. He used a group of giggling teenage girls as cover until they became too annoying; then he crossed the street and continued on his path, doggedly following his clueless kouhai.

When Tetsuhiro arrived at the café, Kunihiro was already waiting for him. Souichi couldn't hear their conversation, but they both looked around for several minutes before departing from the front patio of the coffee shop.

Now Souichi had to be more careful about hiding. Tetsuhiro seemed content to walk along without a care, but Kunihiro was more cautious. He would occasionally glance over his shoulder, and Souichi had to duck and cover more than a few times. "That guy's really suspicious, isn't he?" Souichi said to himself, ignoring that voice that told him he was being the same way. He followed the brothers nearly halfway across town, it seemed, before they turned down an alleyway and disappeared from his sight.

"Shit…" Souichi dashed towards the alley, stopping just short of the intersection and peeking around the corner of the building to see if he could catch a glimpse of where his prey had gone.

He looked just in time to see them standing in the middle of the narrow passageway, watching as the concrete in front of them lifted up like a giant trap door.

"_Well, that's not what I expected to see," _their pursuer thought, watching with ever-growing amazement as Tetsuhiro and Kunihiro descended into the ground beneath the large door. Without thinking about it too much, Souichi walked towards it after they vanished below the pit. As he got closer, he saw that it was a stairway. Tetsuhiro and Kunihiro were at the bottom of the perhaps twenty-foot-deep hallway. _"How the hell did they get down there that fast?"_

Before Souichi could decide whether or not to follow them down the stairs, the door began to close. Kunihiro and Tetsuhiro walked through the previously-closed door at the bottom, but Souichi stepped back as the concrete slab came down again. It was too late by the time he decided to dash under the closing door and follow the brothers (or even confront them). The door closed before he could pull off an Indiana Jones moment, and he stomped and cursed loudly.

"What the fuck?" he shouted, kicking at the concrete, then giving up on opening it again. He couldn't even see a button or switch that would have caused it to open.

"What was that?"

Souichi's head whipped around, his ponytail nearly slapping him in the face. He thought for a moment that someone else had come into the alley, but there was nobody around.

"It sounded like someone yelling…"

"Who's there?" Souichi muttered, a little freaked out; the tinny quality of the voices sounded ghostly, and with the way things had been going lately, he wouldn't have been surprised to come face-to-face with a phantom.

"Are you sure nobody followed us?"

"I'm sure, Nii-san! Stop worrying so much!"

"You stop being so careless..."

It took Souichi a moment to realize where the voices were coming from. There was an air duct running up the side of the concrete building to his right, and a vent was set into it to release exhaust from the system. Walking over to it, he figured that it must have run under ground as well, to wherever the Morinagas had gone.

"Ah, good to see you both!" a new voice, perhaps that of an older man, said, "Welcome to the new place. You like it?"

"Yeah, it looks really good!" Tetsuhiro said.

"It looks nice," Kunihiro said.

"Yes, I actually let my assistant decorate this part of it. I kind of like the throw rug, don't you?"

Briefly, Souichi wondered if the owner of this new voice was gay, as well. "It's like they just clump together!" he whispered to himself, "What the hell? Now homos are forming secret underground clubs?"

"So, who's going first?" the man asked after Kunihiro prompted him to get on with business.

"Tetsuhiro will," Kunihiro said sternly, "He told me this morning that he fell and scraped his shoulder."

"Oh? That shouldn't have happened… How did you fall?"

"Ah… Actually, I fell out of my apartment window…" Tetsuhiro laughed.

"How did you accomplish that?"

"It's a long story, Doctor…"

"_So that's the doctor?" _Souichi thought.

"Well, did you manage to patch it up before anyone saw it?"

"Yeah, I had to use super glue."

"_He closed the wound with __**super glue**__?" _Now that Souichi thought about it, the lighting in his bedroom the previous night was bright enough to allow him to see something as obvious as a cut; however, it had been dim enough to hide a seam closed with super glue. He hadn't had the chance to get a better look at it, and he had avoided touching it in case it woke Tetsuhiro up.

"You should be more careful, Tetsu-kun…"

"I'm sorry…"

"That's OK. Let's go into the lab and get started with the maintenance, and then I'll patch up your skin."

Souichi didn't hear the rest of their conversation; obviously, they had moved out of the room or hallway that they had been standing in. Their voices grew faded and then stopped, but Souichi was too shocked to hear them anyway. "Wha- what the… hell…" he stuttered, stumbling backwards and nearly falling on his behind, "What the hell was that? Morinaga… H- he's actually a robot?"

It was a long time before Souichi could pull himself together and stagger out of the alley. Entering the hustle and bustle of the main thoroughfare once again, he could almost believe that what he'd heard had been an auditory hallucination. Just ringing in his ears, or perhaps he was hearing dialogue from a movie being played in the theater down the street. Nearly forgetting his way, Souichi had to make several adjustments to his course before he made it back to familiar territory.

"What is this shit that I have to put up with?" he nearly shouted out loud, talking to himself and earning a few glances in return, "First he turns out to be gay AND in love with me, and NOW he's a robot?" Turning to a cat that had suddenly jumped up on the fence beside him, he yelled, "**Just how many more surprises does he have in store for me? **It's like something out of a bad fanfiction!"

At last he reached the apartment. He had decided that he wasn't going to the lab that day; he would wait for Tetsuhiro to come back home. He wanted to confront the little liar. He wanted answers. Most of all, though, he wanted an Aspirin. He took two and then laid back on the couch, watching the door for the first chance he'd have to pounce and verbally sink his claws into the man who was turning out to be more trouble than he'd ever thought possible.

**TBC**

**Wow, I need to stop writing at one in the morning… I'm tired! XP Still, I'm glad I got this chapter done. Next, Souichi finds out the truth at last! But will it be as simple as he thinks? Stay tuned! **

**Oh, and remember, I appreciate constructive feedback! Sometimes I don't clarify something or I write a sentence that doesn't make sense. If you see a mistake like that, let me know and I'll correct it (or I'll clarify for you). Part of the reason I write these stories is so I can get better as a writer, so don't be afraid of hurting my feelings! ^_^**

**In fact, I'll clarify something right now: When I said "pull off an Indiana Jones moment", I was referring (in case you haven't seen the movies) to the scenes where Indiana has to get past a closing doorway. He slides under it with just a few inches of clearance, then reaches back to retrieve his hat just before the door closes. It's enough of an iconic moment for me to mention it with confidence that some of you have at least seen references to it (there are a few parodies of that move in other shows and such), but I still want to explain it in case you didn't get it. I don't often put in references like this, but the thought of Souichi sliding under the doorway like that was too funny an image not to share! XD**


	4. Stranger Than Fiction

**Notes: Two chapters in a row! Wow, I'm getting done fast… But I have a lot of drive to write KB fics, so that's no surprise (plus the outline helps a lot! ^^;)**

Chapter 4: Stranger Than Fiction

Souichi was getting fed up with waiting by the time Tetsuhiro came home. The late afternoon sun was already sinking in the sky, casting long shadows in the apartment and a golden gleam on the furniture – and on Souichi as he sat smoking his fifth cigarette, one knee bouncing in agitation.

"Senpai, are you home?" the door opened, and Tetsuhiro came in. Souichi didn't turn his head to look at him as he took his shoes off. "There you are!" the black-haired man said, walking towards the couch where Souichi sat, "I was wondering where you were… It seems you didn't go to the lab. Are you feeling OK?"

"Morinaga, sit down," Souichi's tone discouraged argument.

Tetsuhiro complied, sitting in the chair opposite the couch. "What's wrong?" he asked, seemingly worried.

"_He should be," _Souichi thought before saying, "Just where have **you **been?"

"I told you, I had a doctor appointment," Tetsuhiro smiled reassuringly, "Then I went ahead to the lab, but when I saw you hadn't touched your cultures I decided to take care of them for you. I tried calling, but your phone was off…"

"This doctor appointment…" Souichi blew out a long tendril of smoke, then extinguished the smoldering stub before turning to glare harshly at Tetsuhiro. "Why the hell would you have to go underground for that?"

The younger man froze, his eyes widening. "S- Senpai… You saw that?"

"I followed you and your brother," Souichi said, trying to keep his voice level and low, "Just what the hell was that about? Some secret underground organization?"

Tetsuhiro didn't say anything.

"Answer me, Morinaga."

"I'm… not supposed to say…" Tetsuhiro looked down at his own lap.

"Aha!" Souichi suddenly leapt off the couch, coming to stand directly over Tetsuhiro, "So you **are **hiding something! What the fuck is it? You'd better spill it!"

"S-S-Senpai, I could get into trouble! YOU could get into trouble!" Tetsuhiro was backing as far away as possible.

"Tell me what's going on! You're a robot, aren't you?"

"N- NO! I'm not a robot! Senpai, please sit down!"

"Tell me!"

"OK, fine!" Tetsuhiro stood up, knocking Souichi back down onto the couch, "But first, understand that I'm only telling you because I love you!"

"Of all the stupid things to say at a time like this!" Souichi stood again, leaning in so that his nose was inches from Tetsuhiro's, "If you love me so much, then why keep a secret like this?"

"Because I didn't want you to hate me!" Tetsuhiro sighed, lowering his gaze again, "Senpai, please promise that you won't leave because of this…"

All was quiet for a moment, and then Souichi scoffed and said, "If I can stand you being a homo, then I can handle anything you have to tell me." Blushing a little, he sat down again and motioned for Tetsuhiro to do the same.

"Remember you said that…" Tetsuhiro sighed, sitting as well. "Just… please don't tell anyone else… I could seriously get in trouble if this were to get out…"

"I won't tell anyone. Now get on with it!"

"Right…" he leaned back in the chair, rubbing his eyes and sighing before beginning. "I'm a… well, you can't exactly call me a robot. I- I'm more like a cyborg…"

"…A cyborg?"

"Yeah… And not just me, but my brother, too. See, our parents were scientists for the government. They were responsible for developing and perfecting various cybernetic implants for injured soldiers, as well as other amputees and the like. It was – is – their passion."

Souichi remained silent, listening tensely.

"When the government outsourced the cybernetics program to another part of the country, my parents opted out of moving. Instead, they took what equipment they could and moved to Fukuoka. It was my mother's hometown, you see, so they already knew people there, and it was a nice country town. This was before I or my brother was born. By the time Nii-san came along, my parents had pretty much stored their notes and equipment away… But…"

"Wait, they turned their own kid into an android?" Souichi asked.

"Ah, well, sort of! A cyborg, actually, remember? But yes, they did. When he was two years old, he was trying to climb a tree during the Hanami festival at the park… He fell into the pond there and drowned. My parents were devastated… I was told that they refused to believe he was dead. So before he could be laid to rest, they arranged to have his body taken to my mother's family cemetery. Obviously, he never reached the place."

Souichi was too stunned to say anything, though he wanted to comment. This was probably the strangest story he had ever heard.

"My parents took his body to their small laboratory, and set up the equipment again. Using their knowledge of cybernetics, they attempted to fashion a cybernetic brain. That had never been done before, but it was the only way to bring Kunihiro back." Tetsuhiro paused for a moment to glance up at Souichi to gauge his reaction. His senpai's face remained blank, so he continued nervously. "They called an old colleague of theirs, Dr. Nishima – he's the one we saw today, actually. We have to go in for yearly adjustments and updates, and usually we go to him for that... But anyway, he came to Fukuoka to help my parents, though he didn't believe that they could accomplish anything. He just felt sorry for their loss, and wanted to go along with their plans until they realized that nothing would come of them… But as you can guess, they did.

They succeeded in making an artificial brain, and Kunihiro sort of came back to life, you could say… Though he was just functioning, and he didn't have any personality to speak of. Still, it was something. So over the next few years, they tweaked him and modified him, finally programming him with a personality…"

"Did you say programming him?" Souichi asked quietly.

"Yes, they programed him. In the end, he was more than just a person kept alive by cybernetic science. His mind was actually upgraded and altered until it was a computer… Senpai, I know this sounds silly, but Nii-san was basically turned into a living computer."

"A living computer…" now the older man was staring at Tetsuhiro as if he had sprouted two heads.

Tetsuhiro looked away from the horrified gaze and continued his story. "While they were doing this, Kunihiro became more than just their child that they were trying to save. He became their experiment… They started to fit him with more and more upgrades. Then I was born… And, well, they did the same to me, too."

For seemingly the millionth time in the past couple of days, silence reigned supreme. Tetsuhiro avoided looking at Souichi while the astonished man stared at him. Finally, Souichi said, "So… you're a computer."

"Yeah…"

"And you're some kind of cybernetic lab rat…"

"Basically…"

"You…" Souichi's fists balled up, and he suddenly slammed them down on the coffee table, "Your parents are sick!"

"What?"

"Why would they do all that to both their kids? I mean, yeah, it's sick enough to try to bring back the dead, but to turn their living kid into a robot?"

"Cyborg, Senpai…"

"Whatever!" Souichi glared at him, "So is that why you left home?"

"N- no, I left because of the whole fiasco with Masaki-san!" Tetsuhiro said, finally looking at Souichi, "That was all true, with Masaki-san and everything. I had to get away from my parents, because they kept trying to reprogram me to be straight…"

"WHAT?"

"Well, Senpai, they thought it was a glitch or something…"

"But you're…" Souichi bit his tongue before he could say it. He had almost uttered the very thing he had argued against for so long: 'You're gay because you were born that way.' Angry with himself, he turned his head away from Tetsuhiro to hide his furious blush.

"I'm what?"

"Nothing. Just… You just… I need some time to absorb all of this…"

"I understand…" Tetsuhiro looked down again, hanging his head in shame. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner… Nii-san would be furious, and…"

"Why the hell are you trying to please him?" Souichi snapped, "He's caused you nothing but trouble, remember?"

"Ah, that may be true, but I was also protecting myself. Senpai, I… I was afraid you'd leave me. I still am afraid you'll leave me…" Tetsuhiro trailed off, waiting for Souichi to say something. He was hoping that he would deny it, but Souichi said nothing. "Senpai… do you want me to go?"

Souichi didn't answer for a while. He leaned back, lit up another cigarette, and took long puffs from it, looking up at the ceiling. Finally, he said, "Why the hell would I want you to go? I already told you, if I can handle you being gay, I can handle you being a robot."

"Senpai…!" Tetsuhiro suddenly jumped up and fell across Souichi, knocking his cigarette out of his hand and hugging him.

"Hey, get off!" Souichi kicked him to the floor, grabbing the burning stick and snuffing it out in the ashtray. "Stop overreacting to things! Sheesh…" he leaned back again as Tetsuhiro sat beside him on the couch, then turned to glare at the other man. "So what can you do? I mean, you said you were a computer of some sort…"

"Yeah, I am," Tetsuhiro said, "I can surf the internet in my head, you know. It's kinda cool, actually. I can also hook up to a monitor or other devices like printers…"

"Whoa, whoa… How do you do that?"

Souichi watched with growing curiosity as Tetsuhiro reached behind his left ear. To his surprise, a triangular panel, covered with hair like part of Tetsuhiro's scalp, popped up with a click. It looked a bit like a perked dog ear, Souichi thought. Tetsuhiro reached into the hidden space beneath it and pulled out a black cord with a USB connection on the end. "See?" he said, letting the cord go and allowing it to snap back into place with a whirl. He then shut the panel on his head, and smiled nervously. "You're not freaked out, are you?"

"Oh, no," Souichi said sarcastically, "I'm not shocked at all! You turn out to be a fucking appliance, and I'm as cool about it as anyone could be!"

"Sorry…"

Their conversation halted again, and then Souichi sighed, "You know, what bothers me about it isn't that you're a freaking toaster oven…"

"T- toaster oven?"

"It's that you never told me. How long were you going to keep that secret, huh?"

"Senpai, it's kind of a big deal… I never planned to tell you, actually."

"Huh. Well, the way I see it, you're now potentially 80% more useful to me than you were before I knew all this…"

"What do you mean?" Tetsuhiro backed away a little; he didn't like the gleam in his senpai's eye.

"Morinaga," Souichi smirked, turning towards him, "I think I've found a replacement for my old laptop…"

**TBC**

**Well, there you have it! The whole truth, though it doesn't end here. We have to see how Souichi will take advantage of poor Angel-kun! Hope you enjoyed it! :D**


	5. The Many Uses of a Tetsuhiro

**Notes: Whoo! Fifth chapter! And now we get into humorous territory. Enjoy! ^_^ Oh, BTW... I'm taking suggestions for the story title. It's sort of one that I came up with spur-of-the-moment, and I couldn't think of anything better, so suggestions on new titles are welcome. **

Chapter 5: The Many Uses of a Tetsuhiro

It had almost been like a dream. Tetsuhiro never expected Souichi to stay with him once he found out his secret; but just like when he confessed his love, Souichi didn't leave him. Confessing his love had been difficult, it was true, but confessing to this long-kept family secret had been even harder.

However, in some ways it was even worse dealing with the aftermath of this than it had been after confessing his love. Rather than pretend that nothing had happened, like with the first incident, Souichi seemed determined to ride Tetsuhiro about it for as long as possible – and not in a good way. "Hey, Morinaga!" Tetsuhiro groaned when he heard his name being called, "Get over here and change the channel! I can't find the remote!"

"Senpai, really…" Tetsuhiro grumbled, walking out of the kitchen and glaring at Souichi, "I told you, I'm not a remote control!"

"I know that. Change it anyway."

Tetsuhiro complied, reaching down to change the channel on the TV to the weather network.

"**Now **you're a remote control."

"Senpai!" the cyborg was getting fed up with being run ragged. He felt like he already did enough for Souichi as it was; now he was expected to act as a stand-in for every electronic device in the house? He wondered just why Souichi was acting this way. It was almost as if he were punishing Tetsuhiro for something.

"Hey, while you're standing there, do something useful. Can't you turn your mouth into a blender or something and make me a smoothie?"

"Stop it!" he was angry now, and he stalked over to the couch where Souichi was going over some research notes. "Senpai, stop treating me like an appliance! I'm a cyborg, I get it! So I kept it from you! But that's no reason to keep harping on me like this!"

"You're right," Souichi sighed, not bothering to look up, "But I think you should pay for last night, in the form of servitude. Is that so unfair?"

"W- what?"

"You got your night of sex, so now you have to pay for it."

Tetsuhiro blinked for a moment, bewildered, then leaned down to come face-to-face with Souichi, who finally looked up at him. "So I'm your slave now, am I?"

"Is that what you think?"

"Well, yeah! Though it's not that different from before… Still," Tetsuhiro sat down next to Souichi, "why do you have to mock me for being who I am? You punish me because I'm gay, you punish me because I'm a cyborg… Senpai, do you have any feelings for me at all?"

"Wh- what?" Souichi's face turned red, "Stop talking like that! God, you're really mushy for a robot…"

"I'm not a robot!"

"Whatever, Sanyo. Just do what you're told and you'll eventually pay your penance."

"Senpai…" Tetsuhiro sighed heavily, then glanced over at Souichi with a sly expression on his face. "So I can have sex with you as long as I make up for it later?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Yes you did! Senpai, can we do it now?"

"NO!" Souichi punched him, stood up, and walked into the kitchen, "Why don't you start up your screen saver! Or if you're so horny, look up some porn and go get off that way! But leave me alone!"

"Oh, Senpai…" Tetsuhiro had to laugh a little. Despite his angry outbursts, Souichi had been blushing. It was cute, but Tetsuhiro still wanted more. He wished that Souichi would at least acknowledge him as his lover, though in light of recent events it was even less likely to happen than before.

VVVVV

That evening, the two settled down to dinner in the living room. "How is it?" Tetsuhiro asked, watching Souichi enjoy the first bites of flounder.

"Good," Souichi said, "Why do you always ask that? What, you doubt your abilities or something?"

"Well, a little!" Tetsuhiro laughed, "Doesn't anyone, sometimes?"

"Moron… It's fine."

As they began to eat, Souichi thought of something curious. "Hey, Morinaga," he said, "The variety of food you know how to cook… Did you learn that, or…"

"Actually, I mostly download the recipes as I go along…" Tetsuhiro blushed a little, embarrassed to be talking about himself like this to anyone other than Dr. Nishima or Kunihiro.

"Ah. So you instantly know how to prepare them?"

"No, not really. I did learn cooking techniques, but once you know how to do it then you can pretty much cook anything."

"I see…" As strange as it still seemed, the scientist in Souichi was beginning to wonder more and more about his semi-lover's functions. "You really can surf the web in your head, can't you?"

"Yep. The only indication that I am is that my eyes go kinda weird-looking…"

"How?"

"Well, let me show you…" Tetsuhiro set his chopsticks down and seemed to focus on something in front of him. Then his eyelids drooped, there was a small beeping sound, and his pupils contracted, leaving nothing but the olive green of his irises. It was the most bizarre thing Souichi had ever seen, and he watched in fascination as pinpoints of light whizzed across Tetsuhiro's eyes, appearing as though they were lights on a computer screen. Then the lights stopped, Tetsuhiro's eyes went back to normal, and he widened them and smiled at Souichi.

"Amazing…" Souichi heard himself say, though he didn't mean to say it. Tetsuhiro's cheeks went red and he returned to the task of eating. "What else can you do?"

"Ah, well, I can connect with my brother and chat with him like that. Earlier today, when I got lost in thought before the doctor's appointment, I was talking to him."

"You were?"

"Yeah, and many other times, too. We keep in touch more than I've let on…"

"Ah, I see… So you've got a phone in there, too?"

"Sort of. Only I can hear it, but it's kinda like that."

"Can you take pictures or something, as well?"

"Well, in a sense, yes… See, everything in my memory is able to be played back…"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I can show you, if you want me to…"

"This I have to see…" Souichi scooted back to allow Tetsuhiro to pass him, and watched as Tetsuhiro opened the panel in his head and pulled out three audio-visual cables; one red, one white, one yellow.

"Let me just plug these in…" Tetsuhiro said, looking around for the connections. When he found them, he pressed the TV's power button and sat back.

"I have the remote… Should I change the channel?"

"No need. I can do it."

"So you **are **a remote?"

"No, I'm not a remote! I can only do it if I'm plugged into the TV!"

Souichi and Tetsuhiro watched the screen as it fizzled, faded to black, and then an image popped up. Souichi saw, through Tetsuhiro's eyes, the laboratory. "Senpai," Tetsuhiro's voice emanated loud and clear from the speakers, "What should I do with this?"

"Put it up," Souichi's own voice sounded farther away, but as Tetsuhiro shifted his sight he came into view, bent over the lab table.

"Are you sure we won't need it again?"

"I'm sure. Just do what I say!"

The screen went blank again. Souichi stared at Tetsuhiro, speechless. "I can instantly access every memory in my hard-drive- er, my mind," Tetsuhiro said, "It comes in pretty handy sometimes!"

"So you can do things like memorize test questions and such?"

"No, I prefer not to. That would be cheating, after all…"

"Moron! You could be done with your master's by now!"

"Well, if I were, then I wouldn't be able to stay with you, would I?"

"Idiot…" Souichi turned away again, "So can you delete these memories?"

"No, not easily…" Tetsuhiro grinned and turned back to the screen. A thought had occurred to him. Perhaps there was a way to make Souichi less wary of him, and to make him happy at the same time. "Hey, Senpai, are you going to stop treating me like some appliance now?"

"Depends on how well you behave…"

"So this won't change your mind at all?"

To Souichi's horror, a new image popped up on screen. It was the video of his embarrassing karaoke stint with Isogai. "H- how did you get this?" he shouted, furious.

"I downloaded it after Isogai-san e-mailed it to you," Tetsuhiro grinned, "Though, Senpai… If you really don't like it so much, I can change it for you."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Watch…"

A new image came onto the screen. Souichi's eyes widened when he realized it was an internet browser. The screen changed to another, then another; soon they were going too fast for Souichi to comprehend what he was seeing. Finally, it stopped. A download bar appeared, and Souichi read off the words at the top of the page.

"Video editor…" he said, "What's that for? What are you going to do?"

Tetsuhiro didn't answer; his eyes had lit up again, and Souichi could tell that he was too preoccupied with downloading the program to answer at the moment. The internet browser closed down, and as Souichi watched, mystified, the video popped up once again – alongside a series of video files with Isogai's picture in the thumbnails.

Half an hour later, Isogai was belting out the Doraemon theme in Souichi's terribly off-key voice.

"Well, Senpai, what do you think?" Tetsuhiro asked, smiling.

"I think we need to make NicoNico and YouTube accounts..."

**TBC**

**Well, what do you think? Sorry for the short chapters! I'm notoriously bad at long chapters. And I know it's sort of a cheesy idea, but hey, I love sci-fi mash-ups like this. Feel free to comment! ^_^**

**Oh, and NicoNico is referring to Nico Nico Douga, the Japanese video sharing website (like YouTube). **


	6. Sleep With Me?

**Notes: Here's chapter 6! Thank you for reading and reviewing, and I hope I can continue to entertain you! ^_^**

Chapter 6: Sleep With Me?

"Hey, Toshiba! What's the view counter say?"

"12,946… And stop calling me that!" Tetsuhiro almost threw down his notes in frustration. It was bad enough that Souichi kept pestering him to relay the number of hits that the video of "Isogai" singing terrible karaoke was getting on the video sharing website. What really irked him was that he kept calling him those names.

"All right, Toshiba-kun. How's that? Nice enough for you?"

"Wh- what?"

"Hmm… I like the sound of that," Souichi nodded, jotting down results as his eye remained practically glued to the microscope lens, "Toshiba-kun. It sounds similar to your first name, doesn't it?"

"Senpai…" taking a deep breath, Tetsuhiro turned back to his work. Was it his imagination, or was Souichi actually teasing him? _"It couldn't be that," _Tetsuhiro thought with a little bit of sadness, _"He only says these things to degrade me… Not that he doesn't think I deserve it. But Senpai, I wish you could be serious with me for once…" _

It had been almost a week since he had told Souichi about his true identity, and since then all Souichi seemed to be concerned with were school and the number of views the doctored video was getting. "I can't wait to see what happens when Isogai finds it!" he often said, clapping his hands together in satisfaction.

Tetsuhiro looked around the lab as he set his notes down. Stark white floor, plain steel and plastic counters, glass display cases neatly stacked with bottles and flasks and vials… It was just like Souichi, he thought. A fairly simple man when first encountered – loving science and his family and little else – yet when you got down to what was in those bottles… _"You find out why they're sometimes labeled 'combustive material'…" _he shook his head, loving and despairing at the same time as he often did.

"Hey, Morinagatron…"

"It's not **Morinagatron**!" Tetsuhiro snapped, "And it's…" his eyes lit up for a second, "still 12,946!"

"… I wanted to ask you to bring me some saline solution."

"O- oh. Right."

"Sheesh, you overreact too much…" Souichi said, turning back to the microscope after taking the bottle of saline solution.

"Sorry, Senpai."

Just then, Souichi's cell phone rang. "Oh, for the love of…" he grumbled, flipping it open and putting it to his ear, "Who is this?"

"Hey, Souichi-kun!" Souichi groaned when he heard the voice of Isogai. Then he grinned, remembering the video.

"Isogai… Nice to hear from you."

"I'll bet it is," Isogai said, his tone as friendly as usual, "So, what are you and that little underclassman of yours up to? Been spending a lot of time on the internet?"

"Why, as a matter of fact, yes. We have. And you?"

"I've been on and off," Isogai's perkiness never wavered, "Saw an interesting video the other day… Appears there's a man running around with my same name and looks, and your voice. Looks like we've had a love child, and you never told me!"

Souichi's reply was out of his mouth before he even registered Isogai's last remark. "So you saw it? Good! It serves you right, you know!"

"Ah, I suppose! It really was horrible of me to blackmail you like that!" Isogai laughed, but his airy attitude was beginning to worry Souichi. "Anyway, I just wanted to see if you had anything to do with it, and it seems that's been confirmed, eh?"

"Absolutely!"

"Great! Good one, Souichi-kun!"

"Yeah…" Souichi's previous jubilation deflated rather quickly, "Wait, you don't mind?"

"Mind? Why would I mind? I thought it was hilarious!"

Souichi's eye twitched.

"Well, I've gotta go. Important stuff to do. Take care, Sou-kun!"

"Y- yeah…"

"What's wrong?" Tetsuhiro asked when Souichi closed his phone with a loud snap.

"That bastard…" Souichi mumbled, "I'll bet he's planning some sort of revenge…"

"What makes you think so, Senpai?"

"I could hear it in his smug tone! He's planning something!" Souichi stood from the stool and walked out of the room, Tetsuhiro following closely.

"What do you think he's planning?"

"Probably a public revelation of the real video… Damn it!" they entered the student lounge, and Souichi growled in frustration when he saw that the coffee pot was empty.

"Senpai, I wouldn't worry about it. I mean, even if he posts the video, people would think that it's a manipulated copy or something. Ours was up first, after all."

"True, true…" Souichi leaned against the counter, then glanced over at Tetsuhiro, "Say, can you hack into his computer and delete the video?"

"Umm… well, yes…"

"Then do it!" the long-haired man stomped his foot, "Why didn't you do that from the start?"

"Senpai, I'd have to be at least close to his computer… There have to be thousands of wireless networks all across the city! Besides, he's nowhere near here, probably. It would be impossible to do from this distance, unless I had his exact location… Even then, if it's protected, I'd have to…"

"OK, OK, I get it…" Souichi sighed, then grabbed a bag of coffee from the cabinet and handed it to Tetsuhiro. "Here, make some coffee. Do you need a filter, or is there one built into your nose or something?"

VVVVV

By the time Souichi and Tetsuhiro got home that night, Tetsuhiro was almost on the brink of insanity. Souichi's jabs had been irritating at first, but now they hurt. A lot. All he wanted was a little affection, and now it seemed even more unattainable than before. Getting ready for bed, he began to think of something that he had wanted to do for a long time; now he decided to build up the courage to ask for it.

"Senpai, can I ask you something?" Tetsuhiro walked out of the bathroom, already in his pajamas, as Souichi closed down his laptop for the night.

"What is it?" Souichi looked tired, and Tetsuhiro hesitated for a moment. If he was tired, then he was bound to be in a bad mood. Then again, he might be in a more compliant state of mind.

"Can I… sleep with you?"

Predictably, Souichi turned and glared at him. "Are you joking? Because I hope you are."

"No, Senpai, I want to sleep with you! Please? I promise I won't try anything!"

"Won't try… Idiot, you think I'm gonna fall for that?" Souichi stood up and walked into his bedroom, "That's the whole reason you want to sleep with me in the first place! You wanna 'sleep' with me!"

"I don't!" Tetsuhiro tried to follow Souichi, but the door slammed in his face, "I just want to be near you… Senpai, why can't we? We're lovers, aren't we?"

"No! You can go sleep with someone else for all I care, but you're not getting into my pants tonight! I'm tired!"

"But I don't want to do **that**!"

"Of course you do! You always say that you just want a kiss, or just want to be close, and then you go and do something stupid!"

"Senpai…" Tetsuhiro sighed and leaned against the door. It was true; he did look for every opportunity to have sex with Souichi. He couldn't really help himself, but thinking about it that way, he supposed that he had been a little out of line before…

Walking away from the door, Tetsuhiro contemplated his predicament. He did crave affection, and he did admit that he could sometimes be a little too persuasive when it came to physical affection. "I need to make it up to him somehow…" he muttered. Then he got an idea. _"That's it!" _he thought, sitting on the couch, _"I'll show him how sincere I am about him! I'll show him that I love him in a way that he won't be able to deny! Then again…" _his shoulders slouched, _"What if he abuses it? … Well, it's just a risk I'll have to take…" _

**TBC**

**Sorry for the ridiculously short chapter! ^^; Any guesses as to what Tetsuhiro's going to do to prove his love? If you guessed that it's something that'll cause a lot of potential problems and possibly collateral damage, then congratulations, you win a cookie! XD**


	7. Kunetsu

**Notes: So here it is, the conclusion to the cliffhanger! Though it's by no means the conclusion to the story. We still have quite a ways to go, so stay tuned! :D**

Chapter 7: Kunetsu

When Souichi woke up that morning, he was already in a foul mood. Not only had he tossed and turned, expecting Tetsuhiro to pick the lock and pounce on him like a love zombie starved for sex, but he had actually dreamed about certain… things. _"It's all __**his **__fault!" _Souichi thought as he got dressed, _"That bastard actually made me dream about him! How freaking ridiculous!" _It comforted him greatly to tell himself that he hadn't dreamed about that because he wanted it; it was only that he'd been angry about it before going to bed. Naturally, he reasoned, such dreams would occur right after similar thoughts were implanted into his mind by Tetsuhiro's request.

Practically ripping the door open, he snarled angrily when he heard Tetsuhiro in the kitchen. He went into full predator mode. "Morinaga!" he shouted, stomping through the living room, "You'd better be getting me some coffee!"

"Already done, Senpai!" Souichi stopped in his tracks when Tetsuhiro smiled at him sweetly. The fool was too chipper to have just been turned away from Souichi's bed.

Then Souichi noticed the table. It was laden with food; fresh fruit, a plate of toast (lightly browned, not burned, just like Souichi liked it), boiled eggs, and huge cinnamon buns. Tetsuhiro had gone all-out. He had even been hand-whisking a bowl of whipped cream when Souichi had come into the room.

"Go ahead and sit down, OK?" Tetsuhiro said, scraping the cream into a bowl of strawberries, "I already poured your coffee."

"What's with all this?" Souichi asked, taking a seat but immediately on guard. He picked up a cinnamon roll and eyed it suspiciously. "You didn't put an aphrodisiac in these, did you?"

"Do you really think I'd do that?" Tetsuhiro looked sad as he set the strawberries and whipped cream on the table.

"You've done it before."

"That was an accident… Anyway, I just felt like making you a big breakfast. Is that so wrong?"

Souichi didn't say anything, but bit into the cinnamon roll. _"Well, it's not so bad as long as he cooks like this…" _he thought.

"I hope you like it. I made the rolls myself, you know."

"_I could tell," _Souichi thought, but out loud he said, "Regardless, you're not getting any from me today. We've got work to do in the lab."

"N- no!" Tetsuhiro stuttered, his face turning red, "Senpai, that's not what I want! I- I'm sorry… if you feel that way…"

"_Oh, boy, here we go… The guilty speech. He'll say he just wants to kiss or hug, but then he'll knock me onto the table and try to…" _

"Look, I know I don't have the best track record… I know I deserve this suspicion, but I really do love you with all my heart!"

"You can love me with all your CPU for all I care," Souichi scoffed, already starting on his second cinnamon roll, "But I'm serious when I say you're not getting any today! And if I told you that you'll never get it again, you'd go crazy!"

"That's because sex is the only way I can know how you feel about me!" Tetsuhiro sighed, "But… that doesn't matter. The point is that I've made you wary of me, and I want to make it up to you. I want to show you how serious I am about us…"

"How are you going to do that?"

"I… I'd like to give you my password."

"Your password to what?"

"T- to me, Senpai… I want to give you the password to control me."

"To control… you?"

"Yes," Tetsuhiro looked gravely serious, "I'm fully controllable, whenever I'm in command prompt mode. The only way to put me in command mode is to say the password, and I'd like to give it to you. It's like… giving you my heart."

"Wait, you can be controlled by other people?" Souichi didn't quite know how to handle this information, "Your parents… did they…?"

"Um, yeah... They programmed me that way, so…"

"Why?" Souichi surprised himself by asking that question. For some reason, that thought bothered him immensely.

"Well, that was part of their experiment. To see just how controllable I could be. They… well, they came up with that when they found out I was gay… They tried to use the password system to reboot my core programming, and to make me straight, but I think that it comes from the human part of me…"

The long-haired man stayed silent; he clutched the table until his knuckles turned white.

"So, Senpai, do you want to know the password?"

"Why would I want to know it?"

"Because I want to prove to you that I love you, and that's the best way I know how. That way, if I'm doing something you don't like, you can say it and I'll stop! I'd stop anyway, but…"

"You never do!" Souichi said, "But fine. OK. If you want to tell me the password, then go ahead."

"Thank you, Senpai!"

"For what?" Souichi made an irritated little noise in his throat when Tetsuhiro hugged him, but didn't try to push him away. "So what's the password?"

"Kunetsu."

"Ku-"

"Don't say it!" Tetsuhiro cut in, "Wait until I set you up as the sole user!"

"The sole what?"

"If I set you as the sole user, then nobody but you can control me with the password. Wait a minute…" Souichi watched with mixed emotions as Tetsuhiro's eyes lit up in the peculiar way, and a beeping sound came from somewhere in his head. His body stiffened into a straight posture. "Voice command settings accessed. Set up user profile," Tetsuhiro said in a monotone, "Please enter password."

"Uh… Kunetsu?"

"Password and voice recognition confirmed. Please enter user name."

"… Souichi…"

"User name confirmed. Password and voice recognition setup complete."

"… So, now I can say the password and you'll do whatever I want?"

"Yep," Tetsuhiro said, his eyes and movements going back to normal.

Still unsure of how to react, Souichi finished his breakfast in silence. He ignored Tetsuhiro's attempts at conversation, and by the time they reached the lab Tetsuhiro was worried. "Senpai, please tell me what's wrong… You're not freaked out by the password thing, are you?"

"Oh, no, not at all," Souichi said, "I just reached my quota for weird surprises for my entire lifetime."

"I see… I'm sorry, then."

"Don't be…" he hated to admit it, but Souichi felt a little guilty for thinking that way. This was Tetsuhiro he was dealing with, after all. The man had just literally put his life in Souichi's hands, and the long-haired man figured that he should be grateful and flattered. _"Even though he's a damned homo… It's still a nice gesture." _

Still, Souichi was reluctant to let himself be swayed by the revelation of the password business. It was too silly to contemplate. Perhaps there wasn't really a password. Perhaps Tetsuhiro only made him believe there was one so that he'd be fooled into a false sense of security. _"That sneaky bastard!" _Souichi thought, glaring furiously at the microscope, _"I'll bet it doesn't even work!" _"Hey, Morinaga!" he said aloud, turning to face his busy kouhai.

"Hm?" Tetsuhiro glanced back at him over his shoulder.

"If I say that password, you'll do whatever I tell you to?"

"I already told you, yes. Why?"

"Kunetsu."

Tetsuhiro's expression immediately went lax. He dropped the clipboard he had been holding, and turned to face Souichi, standing rigidly. "Password and voice identification confirmed," he said, "Standing by. Please enter your command."

"Hm… Well, you seem to be in that trance state…" Souichi walked towards Tetsuhiro, eyeing him, "So, do something! Show me that you're not just faking!"

"Please enter your command."

"Oh, right. A command… Let's see…" Souichi looked around the lab, then got an idea. "Here, take this…" he took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, "and smoke it." _"He doesn't smoke, so he'll probably refuse to do it…" _

"I cannot perform that action."

"A-ha!" Souichi nodded, taking a puff, "You're faking, aren't you? Why can't you do it, huh? Too disgusting?"

"This is a no-smoking zone," Tetsuhiro's deadpan voice never wavered.

"Oh…" feeling a little sheepish, Souichi snuffed the illegal item in the sink and doused it with water from the tap. Then he threw it in the garbage. "OK, how about this… Jump up on the counter and cluck like a chicken!"

Tetsuhiro did just that; he leapt onto the counter in one bound, and began making chicken noises. "Cluck, cluck, cluck," he said, though his tone stayed neutral.

"OK, get down now…" Souichi had to admit, that was odd. He didn't know that Tetsuhiro was capable of clearing a three-and-a-half-foot jump in one leap. "Now I want you to say that you like Isogai."

"I like Isogai."

"Say you're not a homo."

"I am not a homo."

"If only…" Souichi sighed, then said, "OK, you can come out of it now. Stop being in command mode or whatever. We've got work to do."

Tetsuhiro didn't move or say anything.

"Hey, I said you could go back to normal!"

No response.

"Snap out of it, Morinaga! What the hell are you doing?"

Apparently Tetsuhiro didn't know, either.

"Oh, God…" Souichi walked towards the cyborg and snapped his fingers in front of his eyes. Tetsuhiro never flinched or blinked. Souichi shook him by the shoulders, slapped his face, and tried shouting in his ear. Nothing worked.

"Y- you…" Souichi slumped onto a stool, frustrated, "Dammit, why'd you ever have to tell me that password?"

"Standing by. Please enter your command."

"Command? I command you to get out of command mode!"

"No activity detected. Preparing to shut down."

"No! Don't shut down! Stop shutting down right now!"

"Shutdown canceled. Please enter your command."

Their conversation, if it could be called that, lasted for half an hour. Souichi tried every command he could think of, even wording the same commands in different ways. None of them had any satisfactory results.

"Dammit, you did this on purpose..." Souichi slumped against Tetsuhiro, defeated, "And all this started with just the word kunetsu!"

"Senpai?"

"GAH!" Souichi leapt back to see Tetsuhiro blinking at him, blurry-eyed and confused-looking.

"What happened? Did you say the password?"

"Y- you don't remember?"

"No, I never remember what happens when I'm in command prompt mode. What happened?"

Souichi gave his kouhai an appraising look. He certainly seemed to be sincere. "I just said the password and couldn't get you out of that daze."

"Oh, all you have to do is say the password again. You could have also asked me for help…"

"What?"

"If you had asked me how to get out of command mode, I would have told you."

"Oh…" Souichi felt like an idiot. Here he was, a scientist and a student of more experience than Tetsuhiro, and he couldn't even think to ask a simple question. "Whatever. Just don't do that again."

"But you're the one who…"

"I know! Just get back to work!"

Souichi's bad mood had returned, and he steamed about it for a while as he gazed unfocusedly into the microscope lens. It didn't help that images from his dream kept popping into his head… Though it gave him an idea. "You really don't remember a thing that happens when you're like that?" he asked suddenly.

"Huh? No, I don't. Why?"

Souichi grinned a bit, finally seeing a way that he could exact revenge for all the times that Tetsuhiro had forced sex upon him.

"Senpai, why did you ask?"

"Oh, just wondering…"

**TBC**

**Heh, a bit of a longer chapter than usual. Sorry if Tetsuhiro's declaration of love wasn't as grand as you might have thought, but it's central to the story. Besides, wait till you see what Souichi has planned for him… ;) **

**To those of you who might be wondering, though, Souichi is not going to be the seme in this story. I do like seme-Souichi stories, but to be honest, it would be too OOC if I made Tetsuhiro a cyborg AND an uke… ^^;**


	8. Cyber Sex

**Notes: Well, sorry for the long wait! Writer's block and school teamed up on me. Besides, I was struggling with Souichi's planned actions in this next chapter… I'm not sure if it'll be too out of character for him, but I'll give it a shot anyway and see how it turns out. And sorry, no hard sex in this chapter. I have to keep it PG-13! ^^;**

Chapter 8: Cyber Sex

Throughout the rest of the day, Souichi's mind was working furiously to weigh the pros and cons of the idea he had had. As soon as he had learned of Tetsuhiro's temporary amnesia involving command prompt mode, the less than nice side of his mind (which, to be honest, was about 90%) had taken the idea and ran with it.

"_It'll be for revenge," _he thought, _"And besides, if I control his every move, then it'll pretty much be under my control the whole time…" _The idea turned him on more than he thought was possible; it seemed as if his years as a rigid believer in work before sex had caught up to him. Never had Souichi wished so hard for the day to be over. He kept glancing at his watch as the minutes dragged by. Usually he felt that there wasn't enough time in the day for him to get all of his work done. Now he had another job to do, and he was anxious to do it.

When they finally put away their lab equipment, Souichi was beginning to doubt his plans again. The walk home was done in silence, with Tetsuhiro looking worriedly at Souichi the entire time. His inquiries were met with stony glances that had him snapping his mouth shut immediately. Tetsuhiro thought that Souichi was angry with him, but he could not have been farther from the truth. Internally, Souichi was battling with himself. He was back at weighing the ups and downs of his plan, and was growing even more unsure of himself as they got closer to home. He told himself that it was all for payback, and that would be the only way he'd enjoy it. Truth be told, though, he was just plain horny. He still blamed Tetsuhiro for causing his mind to dwell on such carnal matters, but the fact was that he couldn't shake the urge.

By the time they walked through the front door of their apartment, Souichi had made up his mind. He was a man on a mission. A hiker who was about to scale Mount Everest. An astronaut on the verge of blasting off… Furious, he shook the metaphors from his head. That was getting a little too close to the reality of the situation.

"Morinaga," he said calmly.

"Y- yes, Senpai?" Tetsuhiro turned to look at Souichi, nervous yet hoping that he would finally find out what had Souichi so angry lately.

"Kunetsu."

Souichi heard the barely audible "veeeewn" sound that signaled that Tetsuhiro had switched modes. "Password and voice identification confirmed. Standing by. Please enter your command."

"Go into my bedroom and take your clothes off," Souichi said.

Tetsuhiro did this without a word. Souichi followed him, unbuttoning his own shirt. He took his time, folding his clothes carefully just as he would on any other night. "My terms this time, Bastard…" he muttered under his breath, then commanded Tetsuhiro to take off and fold his clothing. "I won't have you messing up my room like you always do," he said, settling onto the bed.

Tetsuhiro did just as he was ordered, but he set his folded clothing on the floor in front of him.

"Hey, I said not to mess up my room! Put those on the desk over there!"

"Yes, Master."

"Huh. That's more like it." Souichi waited for his request to be carried out, and then said, "Come over here and get on the bed."

Tetsuhiro did so, and Souichi frowned. _"Is this really worth it?" _he thought.

"Facial structure recognition alert," Tetsuhiro said in his monotone voice, "Change in corrugator supercilii and procerus muscles detected. Have I performed an incorrect action?"

"U- uh… N- n- no. Not really…" Souichi couldn't help blushing, "And who says you can just talk, huh? Shut up and… and just…"

"Incomplete command. Please enter your command again."

Souichi wished that he hadn't gotten this idea in the first place. His face glowed red, and he looked over at the wall, unable to face Tetsuhiro's slack expression. "J- just… God, this is probably the weirdest thing I've ever done… Just… Just get over here and have sex with me, OK?"

"Processing command," Tetsuhiro's eyes lit up for a moment, then he said, "Command confirmed. Please specify instructions."

"_Oh, God… This is going to be more awkward than I thought…" _Souichi groaned inwardly. "Look, you can… you know… g- get on top and… do your thing…"

"Instructions not understood. Please specify instructions."

"**Dammit, what the hell else do you need? An instruction book?**" Souichi shouted, but then had another idea. "Hey, can you search through your memory?"

"Yes."

"Do that, then."

"Initiating another command will cancel your previous command. Continue?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Please enter your search terms."

Search terms? Souichi didn't even know what to say. He had no idea how Tetsuhiro's memories were filed in that brain of his, or even if they had labels or tags. "L- look up memories involving me."

"Searching for memories including Souichi Tatsumi… 13,979 memories found."

"That many, huh…?" Souichi sighed. "OK, out of those, find memories involving sex."

"Searching for memories of Souichi Tatsumi involving sex… 7,015 memories found."

"The hell? THAT many of me, just about SEX? You really are a fiend!"

Tetsuhiro remained silent; the glow in his eyes signaled that he was still deeply immersed in his own mind.

"Dammit, you deserve this, then! Fine, find a memory involving **actual **sex with me!"

"Searching… 13 memories found."

"OK, just watch the first one. When you're done, do exactly what you did then to me now. Got it?"

"Yes, Master."

Souichi rather liked being called 'Master', but he remained focused on Tetsuhiro as the man's eyes lit up brighter. They stayed like that for several minutes; then Tetsuhiro suddenly leaned forward and kissed Souichi passionately.

The older man felt a sense of unreality descend on him. It was strange. The movements were the same; Tetsuhiro's kiss was as hot and loving as any of his kisses. Yet his eyes showed no spark of passion. His body seemed to be working independently of his mind. It was unnerving in a way, and it made Souichi feel a little guilty.

Then Tetsuhiro started kissing the spot behind his ear, and all thoughts of guilt flew right out the window.

XXXXX

"Senpai, I'm thinking of going to the doctor soon…" Tetsuhiro said, slumped over his breakfast a few days later. Souichi sat on the opposite end of the table, sipping his coffee languidly.

"Why?"

"I'm feeling really tired lately... I'm just exhausted, even after a good night's sleep! And I haven't been… um…"

"What?"

"I- I haven't really been thinking about… certain things lately…"

"Like what?" Souichi set his coffee down and glared across the table, though inwardly he was laughing. He knew very well why Tetsuhiro was so tired, and he had a good idea of what the other problem was, too. "Spit it out already!"

"Well… Um… I mean that I haven't been in the mood for sex recently…" Tetsuhiro glanced away from Souichi, a little ashamed to admit this and feeling like Souichi would rejoice at this news.

He wasn't disappointed. "Good! That means you've finally grown out of this homo stuff!"

"N- no, Senpai, I still think of you that way. But it's like I don't have the energy for sex anymore! Plus I've been having these dreams about us lately, and… Well, they seem to satisfy me enough. But dreams have never been enough to really satisfy me, you know?"

"Hm. Well, you have been working hard," Souichi had to turn away during Tetsuhiro's outburst. It was too funny.

"Senpai, I'm kinda worried…"

"Don't be, all right? Just eat your breakfast and stop freaking out over having fewer sexual urges! **Normal **people **don't **think about that stuff every hour of the day, you know!"

"Yeah, I guess…"

"Hey, what's the view count?" Souichi asked, wanting to change the subject before he laughed out loud.

Tetsuhiro sighed, checked the internet, then said, "Over 1,000,000 views. And two mirrored videos have popped up. I think it's gone viral."

"HA!" Souichi cried in triumph, gulping down the rest of his coffee, "Now THAT'S some good news! What a great way to start the day!"

Tetsuhiro watched in shock as Souichi practically leapt out of his chair and almost bounced into the living room. "You coming, Morinaga? Don't wanna be late!"

"Uh… yeah…" Tetsuhiro just gawked, totally shocked. _"Why is he so happy lately?" _he thought, getting up to rinse his bowl, _"He acts like he's high or something!" _Irritated with this turn of events, Tetsuhiro dragged himself into the living room to pull on his coat. Souichi was already several steps out the door. Sighing, Tetsuhiro followed his suddenly energetic senpai, wondering if the world had just gone mad.

**TBC**

**Well? What do you think? **


	9. Delete Freaking Everything

**Notes: Since it's been so long since my last update, I'll upload two chapters. Enjoy!**

Chapter 9: Delete Freaking Everything

Empowered by his new sense of control over his sex life, and just a little turned on by the concept of having a sex slave to do his bidding, Souichi continued to take his pleasure nearly every night. After three days, Tetsuhiro could barely get out of bed in the morning. After six, he found that his manhood was feeling a little more chafed than usual. Souichi was also walking slower these days, he noticed, and for some reason he began insisting on washing his own sheets.

Growing more and more suspicious, Tetsuhiro finally brought it up to Souichi again. It was a pleasant night, and the two were getting ready for bed after a nice dinner and some leisure time in front of the TV. Souichi was in his now-common good mood.

"Senpai, can I ask you something?" Tetsuhiro said finally, buttoning up his pajamas.

"Mm?" Souichi glanced over at him, toothbrush still working furiously to eradicate any sign of plaque.

"You know how I've been really tired lately…"

"Mm-hm."

"…and my sex drive's crashed…"

"Hm."

"…and I keep having these weird memory lapses at night…"

"Mmm."

"Senpai, are you putting me in command prompt mode?"

Souichi spat out the toothpaste and glared at Tetsuhiro. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, it's just that I always seem to black out as soon as I get into bed… It's really strange, you know? Last night, I could have sworn I didn't even go to bed. I was in the middle of reading something, and then the next thing I knew I was waking up in bed!"

"Weird," Souichi said nonchalantly, "Weren't you going to see a doctor?"

"Yeah, but I don't know… Senpai, please be honest," Tetsuhiro blocked the bathroom door, standing in Souichi's way as the other man tried to walk out.

"You think I'm lying?"

"Well, yeah! You know, I won't be mad or anything. Just tell me what you've been doing!"

Souichi glowered at the taller man for a moment, mentally scrambling for an explanation. He hadn't thought Tetsuhiro would figure it out, at least so soon, but he had been careless. Admittedly, he had gone a little overboard. Still, there was no way he would be able to tell that to Tetsuhiro. He would never be able to live it down.

"Senpai…"

"Oh, all right!" Souichi sighed, "I **have **been using the password every night. But only to get you to sleep!"

"Huh?"

"Well, a week or so ago, you said that you were having trouble being tired in the morning. I need you in top shape in the lab, so I started commanding you to go to sleep and stay asleep until you're well-rested. It's for your own good, you know!"

"… Do you think I'm stupid?" Tetsuhiro's bemused tone surprised Souichi. He honestly didn't think he was that perceptive. "I've been more exhausted these past few days than ever before! I wake up with marks on my back, my… er… 'thing' is sore a lot, and for some reason I keep finding my clothes in your laundry hamper!"

Souichi didn't say a word. However, he refused to show defeat. He stood his ground, staring straight into Tetsuhiro's eyes defiantly.

"Senpai, this sounds really crazy, but… have you been having sex with me while I'm in command mode?"

"H- hell no!" Souichi growled, "That's wishful thinking on your part!"

"I can look it up, you know."

"What?" that got a reaction from Souichi. His eyes widened, and he took a step back.

"I can look up activity logs from when I'm in command mode."

"Th- then why didn't you already?" Souichi stuttered, trying to sound nonplussed.

"I wanted to give you a chance to tell the truth…"

Souichi didn't say anything, but he tried his best to keep up his defiant demeanor. Tetsuhiro stared at him for another long moment before sighing in defeat. "OK," he said, "I'm going to look it u-"

"Kunetsu!" the word was out of Souichi's mouth before he knew that he'd even said it. Instantly, Tetsuhiro recited is usual line and stood motionless, blankly staring forward into space.

This bought Souichi some time, but he knew he couldn't keep Tetsuhiro in command mode forever. He had asked once, and learned that Tetsuhiro snapped out of it if his physical needs reached the danger point. They had just had dinner, but soon Tetsuhiro would become too tired to stay in command mode. Souichi had to think of something before that happened.

"OK… um… Let's see…" he mumbled, "Hey, Morinaga! Access your memory or whatever!"

"Memory files accessed."

"Now delete everything!" Souichi's heart was pounding. His fear of being discovered was overriding his judgement, and again he spoke before he realized what he was saying.

"Commencing deletion of all memory files."

That statement practically smacked Souichi upside the head. "W- wait! Wait a minute!" he lunged forward, grabbing Tetsuhiro by the shoulders. "Stop! I didn't mean that! You're not deleting ALL of your memory, right?"

"Deletion of memory files complete."

"Oh, shit…"

It was yet another awkward moment, and the two stared at each other for a long while; Souichi in horror, Tetsuhiro in his trance. Finally, Souichi said, "M- Morinaga… You remember who I am, right?"

"Identification: unknown," Tetsuhiro said monotonically.

"Shit… What should I do? Oh, fuck…" he leaned forward, his head resting on Tetsuhiro's shoulder. "Can you… uh… retrieve your memory?"

"Your request cannot be processed."

"Your memory. Find it. You deleted it, so just dig it out of the recycle bin or something, right?"

"This action cannot be performed."

"Dammit…"

A thought occurred to Souichi then; if anyone knew anything about how Tetsuhiro worked, it would be his brother. The thought of calling the odious man irritated Souichi, but desperate times called for desperate measures. A quick search for Tetsuhiro's cellphone revealed the number, and Souichi pressed "call" with some apprehension.

"Ugh… what do you want, Tetsuhiro?" Kunihiro's voice sounded groggy; it wasn't awfully late, but Souichi supposed that Kunihiro was the type to go to bed right after nightfall.

"Morinaga Kunihiro?"

There was a pause at the other end. "Who is this?"

"It's Tatsumi. Remember me?"

"Hm. Yes, I remember. What the hell do you want?" by the sound of it, Kunihiro didn't exactly relish those memories. In the back of his mind, Souichi liked to think that the pompous idiot was rubbing his jaw at the memory of that punch.

"Look, I know it's late and all, but I've got a problem… Well, really, your brother has a problem…"

"What's wrong?" he sounded more awake now, "If this is about some stupid lover's quarrel…"

"I- it is NOT!" Souichi shouted, "Your brother's just crapped out on me, OK? He's just deleted his memories, and…"

"What did you say?"

"I said his memory was deleted!"

"… What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know what I mean! He told me everything after I beat it out of him! I already know about you guys being the Sony brothers and all, so just tell me what to do to get his memory back!"

A string of curse words answered him, the volume loud enough to make him hold the phone away from his ear. "Why would he tell you!" Kunihiro was saying when Souichi finally lifted the phone again, "He was never supposed to tell anyone! That was the condition of him living on his own! Damn him! Damn YOU!"

"Shut up!" Souichi's voice rose above Kunihiro's, "Just shut up already! Look, you know the little fucker can't keep a secret to save his life! But that's not important; tell me how to get his memory back now!"

There was a long, drawn-out sigh on the other line. "Just how did this happen?" Kunihiro asked, sounding like his rage was deflating.

"Uh… well, I dunno. He just said he'd deleted his memory."

"That's not possible. He can't delete it unless prompted to in command mode…"

The silence was heavy this time, and Souichi began to feel Kunihiro's glare through the phone. Finally, he said, "So maybe… uh… I kinda… told him to… accidentally…"

Another pregnant silence. "I see… Very well. Every day, he and I wirelessly send our memories of the day to the main computer at the doctor's laboratory… I suppose he told you about **that**, as well… I'll go get a copy as soon as I can and come to install it. Then I'll deal with you…"

"Fine, just get here soon," Souichi sighed, a little relieved, "What should I do with him until then?"

"Just keep him out of trouble. You can do that, right? I should be there by Wednesday at the latest." That said, Kunihiro hung up.

"OK…" Souichi closed Tetsuhiro's phone and looked back at the cyborg. At least he knew that Tetsuhiro's memories were safe and that they'd be returned soon; still, he was a little nervous about waking the man up.

Biting the bullet, Souichi spoke the password. Tetsuhiro's eyes returned to normal, he blinked a few times, and then he turned to Souichi.

"Hello," he said, "What's your name?"

TBC

**Well, there you have it. Sorry it took so damn long! I've been so busy lately… **


	10. As Seen on TV

**Notes: Yay! I have schoolwork due, so of course I'm stalling by writing another chapter. But whatever gets me motivated. Hooray for procrastination! XD **

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and to everyone reading! I hope I can keep it entertaining for you! :D Oh, and for Red Mynx (and anyone else who's curious), I've included an explanation of Tetsuhiro's anatomy (as much as I'm able; I'm not too savvy in anatomy, but it's based on what I learned in anatomy/physiology and that savior of clueless authors, artistic license!). I hope it gives you a better idea of how he works! I put it at the end of the chapter so that the story won't be blocked off by my babbling… ^^; **

Chapter 10: As Seen on TV

Up, down, up, down… Souichi's gaze followed the movement of Tetsuhiro's chest as the cyborg breathed in and out. He had been sleeping for a while, and Souichi was beginning to wonder when he'd wake up. It was a little worrisome… not to mention he had had to make his own breakfast.

"Oi, Morinaga," he said, reaching over to tap the man on the shoulder. There was no response. "Hey, don't tell me you fucked up your internal clock, too!"

Just as he was about to shake him, Tetsuhiro's eyes opened. "Good morning," he said, smiling.

"It's about time you woke up!" Souichi couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. Lately he had started preparing himself for every possible disaster he could think of.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Long enough. It's almost noon! You've wasted half a day!"

"I have?" Tetsuhiro looked around in confusion, "Is there someplace we should be?"

"No, it's Sunday…" Souichi sighed, then thought twice about scolding him. Babysitting an amnesiac was probably not an easy task no matter what the circumstances, but an amnesiac cyborg could only be worse. "Then again, maybe you **should** sleep all day…"

"OK," Tetsuhiro said, laying back down on his bed and closing his eyes.

"Hey, get up, you lazy ass! I didn't mean it!" Souichi yanked him out of bed by his collar, steadying him and glaring.

"What should I do, then? Today's Sunday, so… Souichi, what do people do on Sunday?"

Souichi didn't answer; it jarred him a little to hear his name spoken like that by Tetsuhiro.

"Souichi?"

"It's Senpai…" the words were out of his mouth before he'd even realized it.

"Senpai?"

"Er, yeah, that's what you normally call me. I- it just feels weird when you don't. Not that I **like **when you call me that!"

"You don't like it when I call you senpai?"

"No! I mean, I don't particularly care one way or another!"

"But you didn't like it when I called you Souichi…"

"I didn't say I didn't like it, I just said it was weird!" Souichi stalked into the living room, plopping onto the couch with an irritated "humph." "Why are you always putting words in my mouth?"

"I didn't put anything into your mouth."

"GAH!" he threw his hands up, "When you erased your memories, did you completely wipe out your **brain**, too?"

"… No?"

"Ugh… whatever."

"So what should I call you?"

"Just call me senpai, OK?"

"OK."

Souichi sat there for a few minutes, the hair on the back of his neck prickling. Tetsuhiro was still standing in his room, and a few glances told Souichi that he was still looking at him quizzically. He was starting to wonder just how much of his base intelligence had been affected. "Would you stop that?" he finally asked.

"Stop what?"

"Stop staring at me! Come over here and sit down, or go do something. I don't care, just stop what you're doing!"

Without a word, Tetsuhiro joined Souichi on the couch. "I'm sitting on the couch now," he said.

Souichi's left eye twitched. "I see that."

"What do people do on the couch?"

"They watch TV." A click of the remote button had Souichi feeling a little less irritated. He should have thought of that before; sitting Tetsuhiro in front of something to keep him occupied would mean fewer annoying questions.

"How do you watch TV?"

"Just watch it!" Souichi slapped himself on the forehead, "Holy shit, what's wrong with you? Watch the damn thing already!"

Tetsuhiro did just that as Souichi stormed off to the apartment's balcony. He was in desperate need of a cigarette, and he almost burned himself while lighting one. Glancing back at Tetsuhiro gave him a headache, and he savored his small vice as a gentle breeze blew the smoke away from him.

Assuredly, his life had gotten more complicated since finding out about Tetsuhiro's feelings for him. The cyborg thing, though… That wasn't something that he could just deny. As convenient as it was to have a walking computer around, he had found out very quickly that Tetsuhiro wasn't the most user-friendly model on the market. He still felt terrible about erasing Tetsuhiro's memories, though he was already going into denial about the events leading up to that mistake. Another problem was Kunihiro; he still had a few days to prepare, but he was sure that he'd have to be on his guard if he wanted to come out of that encounter alive. To make matters worse, Tetsuhiro seemed to have no clue about how most things worked. He had spent the better part of the night telling him about everything in the apartment. He learned quickly, and didn't forget a single thing that was told to him, but still…

"I hate technology…" Souichi finally decided. He ground out his cigarette butt and then went back inside, refreshed for the moment. He found Tetsuhiro still sitting on the couch, but he was holding Souichi's cell phone to his ear.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Souichi asked, grabbing the phone and holding it up, "Hello?"

"H- hello? I'm sorry, it seems there was some interference. Are you there?" a woman's chipper voice answered.

"Who is this?"

"Umm… Who is this? Aren't you Morinaga-san?"

"No, this is Tatsumi Souichi. Who the hell is this?"

"Oh, well there seems to have been… That is, I was just going to ask for a credit card number so we can process your order…"

"What order?"

"The Egg Pro, sir."

"Egg Pro?"

"Yes, if I could just get your card number…" she was cut off by Souichi hanging up the phone. He turned to glare at the confused Tetsuhiro. "What the hell were you doing?"

"The TV told me to call and order the Egg Pro."

"What the hell is an Egg Pro?"

"It cuts boiled eggs," Tetsuhiro said matter-of-factly, "They said to call, so I did. But then the woman on the phone asked for a credit card number, so…"

"YOU CALLED TO ORDER A FUCKING EGG SLICER?"

"Yes."

"Dammit, Morinaga, just because they say to do something on TV doesn't mean you should do it!"

"I'm sorry…"

He really did look sorry, and Souichi's anger subsided a bit. "Whatever, just don't do that again. Got it?"

"OK."

Souichi watched Tetsuhiro watch TV for a while, going on the defensive every time a commercial came on. Finally, though, he was satisfied that Tetsuhiro wouldn't do anything stupid. He relaxed a bit, leaning back and letting his mind stagnate for a while.

Tetsuhiro's mind, though, was doing everything but stagnating. While Souichi rested, Tetsuhiro was busily absorbing everything he saw on the television. Image after image flooded into his mind, and he analyzed each one before storing it for later use. There had to be a reason that Souichi had told him to watch TV, so he decided it would be best to learn everything he could in case he needed to know it all later.

After about an hour, Souichi got bored and left to do some homework. Unfortunately, that was when the phone rang. "Hello?" Tetsuhiro said, picking up the phone and unfolding it, just as he'd seen people do on TV.

"Hello? Nii-san?" a girl's voice said inquisitively.

"Nii-san?"

"Oh, wait, is this Morinaga-san? Hi! How are you?"

"You know my name?"

"Umm… are you OK? This **is **Tetsuhiro Morinaga, right?"

"Yes."

"It's me, Kanako!"

"Kanako…"

"Yeah, hi! Is Nii-san around?"

"Who is your nii-san?"

The other end of the phone was silent. "Morinaga-san, are you OK? You're kinda scaring me a little…"

"I'm sorry?" Tetsuhiro felt bad about scaring the girl, but he didn't know why she would be scared. He'd only asked a simple question.

"Where is Nii-san?" she asked.

"Hey, Morinaga! Who are you talking to?" Souichi walked into the living room, having been in his room for a while, and froze when he saw the phone. "Give me that!" he shouted, snatching the phone and picking it up, "Who's this?"

"Umm… Nii-san, what's wrong with Morinaga-san?" Kanako sounded freaked out now, and Souichi cursed under his breath.

"Uh, he's just a little sick," he said, "He's got a fever, so he might be a little delusional…"

"Who's sick?" Tetsuhiro asked, only to be swiped on the head by Souichi's fist. "Ow!"

"Well, it must be pretty bad if he doesn't even remember who you are!" Kanako said, "Did you take him to the doctor?"

"Yeah, he's just got the flu. He'll be fine." As Souichi talked with Kanako, Tetsuhiro walked into the kitchen. By the time Souichi hung up the phone, the smell of savory broth wafted through the apartment. "Hey, you! What are you doing?"

"You said someone is sick…" Tetsuhiro said, standing by the stove, "I thought that chicken soup was good for curing illness. That's what they said on TV…"

"You moron, nobody's sick!" Souichi sighed, then went to sit at the table, "But since you made it anyway, bring some in here for me. I could use something to eat now…"

"OK!" Tetsuhiro went to work filling the order as Souichi reached up to turn off the TV.

"Well, it's not so bad, I guess…" Souichi said as a steaming bowl was set in front of him, "At least you can still cook…"

TBC

**Meh, this chapter was a little bit of filler. Still, it sets the stage for the next chapter.**

**OK, now for the explanation I promised! Red Mynx, to answer your first question: yes, only part of Tetsu's brain is cybernetic. To be specific (well, as much as I can be! ^^;), parts of his frontal lobe and most of his parietal lobe are computerized. The sections that are most heavily converted are the parts governing memory (including the hippocampi), consciousness, and sensory intake (mostly optical and aural). He is able to govern his own actions and to think for himself, but there is a small chip in his frontal lobe that turns the command prompt mode on and off whenever it gets a signal from his auditory nerves (the password and Souichi's voice). This basically puts his brain into a sleep-like state. That's why he doesn't remember anything from when he's in command mode; he's basically sleepwalking. During that time, his body is controlled by his subconscious responding to signals from Souichi (or whoever is commanding him). This is also how his mental internet browser works; his subconscious takes over, sending visual and audio data from the web directly into his brain using a small receiver. **

**For your second question, we'll start from the head down: his optical nerves and eyeballs are completely cybernetic. They're basically cameras that relay everything he sees to his brain. His auditory nerves are the same. His senses of taste and smell are completely organic. **

**His spinal column is made of steel, with the spinal cord within being completely organic. Basically, his vertebral bones were replaced with fake ones. This allows for better shock absorption, meaning he can fall from great distances without his spine being injured. The rest of his bones are natural, but his muscle fibers are interspersed with steel threads that increase the strength of his muscles (particularly in his arms, legs, and back). The muscles covering his shoulders are coated with thin, interlocking sheets of steel – hence the metallic gleam that Souichi saw when Tetsu scraped his shoulder falling out the window. **

**Tetsu's circulatory and respiratory systems are organic, as are his other systems such as digestive and endocrine. He produces hormones like everyone else (accounting for his sex drive! XD). His skin is mostly organic, except for the skin on his arms. That's synthetic, made to look, feel, and function like real skin. This allows for another part of his anatomy to function, but to tell you about it now would be spoiling later chapters… Sorry!**

**Still, I hope that explains it enough… That's just how I figured it, but I might be inaccurate on some things. Like I said, artistic license! XD **


	11. Tetsuhiro, Criminal Mastermind

**Notes: Oh, wow… I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! Red Mynx, I particularly apologize to you… You've been so supportive of my stories, so I feel like an ass for not updating when you've been so great! Thanks for the compliments. **

**I've been very busy lately, and suffering from terrible writer's block. This chapter had been almost entirely written out, but I was fine-tuning it. I went ahead and finished it, so here it is… I'm sorry! I don't know when I'll get the next chapter out, but I'll try to do it soon. I know where the story's going (I've got it all written out in note form), but I just lack the ability to write! It's so frustrating, I know, but please bear with me… **

Chapter 11: Tetsuhiro: Criminal Mastermind

Souichi had to admit, life with an amnesiac cyborg was turning out to be an adventure. He was quickly finding that he hated adventures. With only two more days to go until Kunihiro could get to town, Souichi was beginning to wonder if he would be alive when that time came. It also crossed his mind that Tetsuhiro's brother was doing this to punish him for some reason. "Bastard…" he muttered, mashing his cigarette butt into the top of the trash can. He was taking yet another smoke break, having left Tetsuhiro in the lab with strict instructions not to touch anything. The tyrant was exhausted already, and it was only five o'clock.

To start off the day, Souichi had woken up to find a pile of food on the table waiting for him. That wasn't so unusual, but it seemed that Tetsuhiro had pulled out all the stops this time. There was everything from doughnuts to fried eggs and bacon to cereal to rice and pickles. "This is a balanced breakfast," Tetsuhiro said cheerfully. Souichi didn't have to guess that he'd gotten that idea from the TV. It was confirmed when he saw that Tetsuhiro had laid out no less than eight different kinds of cereals.

All of the food was a little overwhelming. Souichi didn't even have time to finish his first cup of coffee before the police showed up.

"Get the door, Morinaga," Souichi called when a sharp knock on the front door nearly made him drop his toast.

Tetsuhiro stood up, walking past Souichi and going to the door. There seemed to be a conversation going on, and then Tetsuhiro came back into the room. "This person says I have to go with him," he said.

"What per-" Souichi turned his head to look and really did drop his toast when he saw the uniformed police officer—tall, stern, and glowering.

"Sir, did you have anything to do with this?" the man asked gravely.

"W- with what?" Souichi stood up, facing the cop defiantly. "Just what the hell's going on here?"

"This man matches the description of someone who stole several food items from a nearby convenience store," the policeman – Officer Suzuhara, as his nametag read – said sternly. "We have to take him to be identified."

"You STOLE all this crap?!" Souichi shouted at Tetsuhiro.

"What is that?" Tetsuhiro asked earnestly.

"Is he serious?" the cop asked, incredulous.

"Look, I'm sorry about my… er, roommate," Souichi said, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. "He's retarded. How much for all the stuff?"

"The store owner could give you a list of items that were stolen. Your roommate is going to have to come with us to the station."

"The hell he will!" Souichi snapped. "I'll go to this store owner myself! Lead the way!"

"Sir, if he wants to press charges, then we'll have to arrest your friend," the uniformed man was a little miffed at Souichi's attitude. Nevertheless, he drove them to the convenience store. The short distance seemed like an eternity; Souichi was anxious to get this mess sorted out, and Tetsuhiro was fascinated by the interior of the police car. When they finally arrived, Souichi dragged Tetsuhiro by the arm into the store, where the owner was still talking with another police officer.

"Ah, that's him!" the older man said. "I'm amazed you found him so fast!"

"Witnesses reported that he 'walked leisurely' back to his apartment," Suzuhara said. "It wasn't that hard to track him down."

"He didn't mean to steal anything," Souichi growled, pushing a wad of bills into the startled store owner's hands. "He's just stupid, OK? I'll pay for everything he took."

"Oh, I, um…" the man laughed nervously. "Th- thank you… Well, I suppose there's no need to press charges. But… I see you two in here a lot. He's never done anything like this before, and he seemed… Well, when I said hello to him when he came in, he acted as if he'd never met me before." The owner glanced nervously at Tetsuhiro, who was watching everything with curiosity. "Is he… felling all right?"

"He's suffered a brain injury recently," Souichi said.

"Does that mean you want us to let him go?" the other officer, Miyami, said.

"By all means. If he's sorry…"

"Morinaga…" Souichi said in a warning voice.

Tetsuhiro looked from him to the store manager. "I did something wrong?" he asked.

"Taking things without paying for them is a CRIME, Dumbass!" Souichi shouted.

Tetsuhiro looked mortified. "I'm sorry," he said, bowing deeply to the manager.

"It's OK!" the old man said, counting the money that Souichi had given him, "And this is a little more than necessary, I think. I'll just…"

"Keep it," Souichi sighed, then turned to Tetsuhiro. "Just when did you come here?"

"While you were asleep," Tetsuhiro said.

"What did I tell you about leaving home without me?!" Souichi hissed, leaning close so that the venom in his voice would be clear.

"I'm sorry, Senpai…"

The two police officers and the store manager watched this display a little awkwardly. Finally, Suzuhara asked, "Did you say your friend recently suffered a brain injury?"

"Yeah, why?" Souichi said.

"How was he injured?"

"He, uh… Fell out the window."

The two officers exchanged glances. Miyami said, "He fell out a window?"

"Yeah. Why do you want to know?"

"Sir, did you fall out a window?" Suzuhara asked; his bushy black eyebrows were raised quizzically.

"I don't remember falling out a window," Tetsuhiro said.

"Of course you don't; you've got amnesia!" Souichi fumed.

"You don't remember being hurt at all?" the officer asked.

"Oh, I've been hurt before. Senpai hits me when I do something bad," Tetsuhiro said cheerfully. The store went dead silent.

"He hits you?"

"Only little taps!" Souichi said. "It's not like I beat him up or anything…"

"Yes, he hits me. With his fists and feet, mostly," Tetsuhiro's demeanor was as casual as could be. It was like he was discussing the weather. Souichi wanted to punch him right then. "Once he hit me with a coat rack."

"I see… And he does this on a regular basis?"

"Yes," Tetsuhiro said, pulling up his shirt before Souichi could stop him, revealing a large bruise. "See?"

"Good God, what are those on your back?!" the other officer asked, referring to the scratches.

"Senpai told me they were from when we had sex."

XXXXX

Three hours and one domestic violence investigation later, Souichi walked out of the police station with the object of his contempt in tow. They had already missed a good chunk of the day, so Souichi decided to go straight to the university. It wasn't too far from the station.

"Stay right beside me," Souichi growled. "If you walk further than five feet away from me, I'll flay you alive, understand?"

"OK!" Tetsuhiro chirped, then grabbed Souichi's hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" Souichi yanked his arm away. "You can walk close without touching me, you know! What did I tell you about embarrassing me?!"

"Oh, sorry…" Tetsuhiro lowered his gaze, falling back a little to keep his distance from Souichi. This drew out Souichi's sympathy, which made him angrier. He focused on a point in space ahead of him and kept walking with a firm step, not looking at the downcast cyborg behind him. Suddenly, he felt a tug on his sleeve.

"What is it?" he asked, not stopping and not daring to look back at his companion.

"Senpai, I'm sorry I was so much trouble today…" that tone of voice was unmistakable; Tetsuhiro was about to cry. "I want to make it up to you," he said. "Can I get you a present?"

"A present?" Souichi stopped at a crosswalk. "You want to get me a present? How about you get your useless brother over here pronto with that memory chip or whatever!"

"I don't know who my brother is, so I can't do that…" Tetsuhiro sighed sadly.

"Just forget it! I don't want a present from you, OK? All I want is to get to the lab as quickly as possible!"

"OK!"

Just as Souichi's foot moved forward, he found himself swept up into the air. He gave a cry of alarm, but realized that Tetsuhiro had grabbed him from behind and they were now flying through the air. They shot up, accompanied by the screams of onlookers, and landed on the roof of a building. Still grasped firmly in Tetsuhiro's arms, Souichi felt a bouncing sensation as they hopped off of the building and flew in an arc to the next building.

Tetsuhiro bounded from one rooftop to the next, sometimes landing on lamp poles and the tops of cars in the streets. Soon the university came into view; one more leap and they landed in the courtyard among their shocked peers. Tetsuhiro set Souichi on his feet, but looked down at him in confusion when his senpai collapsed on his knees.

"What's wrong?" Tetsuhiro asked, not noticing the staring, pointing, picture-taking students all around them.

"What… what was that…?"

"You wanted to get here quickly, right?"

Souichi didn't know what to say. Slowly, shakily, he got to his feet. Noticing the audience that had gathered in a ring around them, he glared and shouted, "What?! You've never heard of… uh… supersonic wind currents before?!"

"Supersonic wind currents?"

"They were blown here?"

"Bullshit!"

"But I didn't feel a breeze…"

Souichi did the only thing he could think to do at that moment; he fled.

**TBC**


	12. A Conversation

**Notes: Wow, got this one out fast! Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed! Red Mynx, I hope you get over the flu soon! And you didn't sound pushy or anything; actually, I think the prodding helped in a way. Ithilas119, thank you for reviewing despite my lack of progress on your requests... I feel like an ass... -_-'**

**I don't know when I'll be able to write the next chapter, and I apologize in advance for that. Still, I hope you all enjoy this one! **

Chapter 12: A Conversation

The researcher grabbed Tetsuhiro's hand and ran for the entrance to the science department building. He pushed past people, freestanding posters, stacks of papers on easily-toppled folding tables, open doors, and worktables. When they reached the sanctity of the laboratory, Souichi was out of breath (to his annoyance, Tetsuhiro hadn't even broken a sweat). He turned to the cyborg, intent on blasting out his anger verbally on a magnitude that would hopefully scramble every wire in Tetsuhiro's head, but couldn't get the words out. Tetsuhiro was looking at him curiously, his eyes wide and innocent. Souichi couldn't manage to yell. It felt like he was about to kick a puppy.

Instead he stalked over to the specimen container and began making up for lost time. Tetsuhiro watched, mesmerized. When Souichi had laid out their supplies, he looked over at his kouhai. "Well, I guess you don't remember what to do," he sighed.

"Do I get to help?" Tetsuhiro asked excitedly.

"I guess…" Souichi contemplated the matter for a moment. "Maybe you can help. Here, take this and put three drops into the petri dish."

Tetsuhiro took the bottle of solution and positioned it over the dish. Carefully, he squeezed three drops out and set the bottle down, looking back to Souichi expectantly. Souichi just looked back at him. It reminded him of when Tetsuhiro had first come to the laboratory. _"Did I do it right, Senpai?" _He could almost hear that quizzical voice echoing over the five years since those words had been spoken. Despite his annoyance, it made him feel a little nostalgic.

Souichi wasn't one to look to the past very often, but he remembered very clearly the first day he'd met the boy who would become his constant companion and leach. Tetsuhiro had stared at him as if he were awe-struck, and Souichi couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride swell up inside him. He was a damn fine researcher, he thought, and he went about his work with such purpose and dignity that by the end of the day Tetsuhiro was hanging off of his every word. Little did Souichi know just how much that first day impacted his kouhai…

Had he known, would he have done anything to avoid it?

He shoved the memories out of his mind. He wasn't about to go **there**. Telling himself that he most definitely would have avoided the younger man at all costs had he been blessed with some amount of foresight, Souichi turned his attention back to the task at hand. Fortunately, Tetsuhiro was just as quick a learner as he'd been five years ago. He soon got the hang of the pattern: apply solution, observe results, document them. This simple sequence allowed Souichi to get some of the more complex work done, leaving Tetsuhiro to the methodical tasks.

Surprisingly, they finished their work fairly soon. It was already dark out, but at least they were caught up for the next day. Not that the day would finish out smoothly, though. Just as he was putting the supplies away, he noticed that Tetsuhiro had stopped moving.

"Hey, Morinaga," he said. To his frustration, Tetsuhiro continued to stand by the sink. He had apparently been washing out a dropper; the sink was off but the dripping piece of glass was still held loosely in a limp hand. "Morinaga!" Souichi rushed to him and shook his shoulder. Then he noticed the dazed, far-off look in his kouhai's eyes.

Souichi sighed, a little relief mixing with his annoyance. He'd thought something was terribly wrong. It appeared as though Tetsuhiro was browsing the internet, or… "His brother might have called him," Souichi said aloud. That sounded about right. "Didn't you say that you and your brother can talk in your heads?" his question received no answer, but if he spoke aloud then perhaps his voice would elicit some response.

After tapping him a few times, Souichi gave up and went back to securing their experiments. "You'd better not be out of it for too long," he said. His voice fell on deaf ears, though. Tetsuhiro was indeed engaged in a conversation with Kunihiro.

While washing some of the equipment, Tetsuhiro had been startled to hear someone speaking to him. _"Tetsuhiro, can you hear me?" _The student looked up from his workstation, but Souichi had stepped out to take a smoke break. _"Tetsuhiro!" _

"Who is it?" he asked, looking around the abandoned laboratory.

"_It's your brother, Kunihiro." _

"Oh. Senpai told me about you…"

"_Did he?"_ the voice was dripping with loathing. Kunihiro could only imagine what Souichi might say about him.

"Where are you?" Tetsuhiro looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone in the window.

"_I'm in Tokyo right now, on business," _Kunihiro replied. _"Close your eyes." _

Tetsuhiro did as he was told, confused. The laboratory was replaced with a dark, formless abyss and a man standing where another workstation had been. "You're Kunihiro?" Tetsuhiro asked.

"Yes, and I'd like to have a word with you." The tawny-haired man looked rather stern. He fixed Tetsuhiro with a glare over his glasses as he furrowed his eyebrows. "I can't believe you told that nut-job our secret!"

"Nut-job?"

"You gave him your password, for god's sake!"

"I did?"

"Yes, and the worst part is that you won't fully understand why I'm so angry with you until I restore your memory!"

"Um… I'm sorry?"

"Never mind…" Kunihiro sighed, calming himself down. "I wanted to talk to you in private, without **him **butting in."

"Who is 'him'?"

"That Tatsumi fellow. The one you're living with."

"Oh! Well, he's not here right now."

"That's fine; he couldn't hear us anyway. Only you can hear or see me."

"That's nifty."

"Nifty?"

"It's an English word used to describe something that's pleasing or interesting. I looked it up when I heard it on TV."

"Oh, God, he lets you watch TV…" Kunihiro reached up to massage his temples. He had to get Tetsuhiro out of this mess. "Listen, Tetsu," he said, trying to sound calmer than he felt. "I want you to come with me."

"You want me to come to Tokyo?"

"No, I want you to come home with me. To Fukuoka, back to our parents' house."

"We have parents?"

"Of course we do!" Kunihiro crossed his arms. He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words for what he wanted to say. Duty had compelled him to report Tetsuhiro's condition to their parents, though he'd left out a few details (such as how he lost his memory and who had been responsible). He didn't want any more trouble than he was already dealing with. Now he was under pressure to convince Tetsuhiro to return with him.

"Tetsu, don't you want to come home?"

"… Sorry, I don't understand," Tetsuhiro frowned. "I thought I was home already. With Senpai."

"I mean, don't you want to go back with Mom and Dad? They're worried about you."

"They are?"

"They can help you get your memories back."

"I thought you were going to do that," Tetsuhiro said. He drew closer to Kunihiro, suspicion stirring in him for the first time that he could remember. The "new" emotion puzzled him. "Somehow…" he said, then faltered.

"Hm?" Kunihiro quirked an eyebrow.

"Somehow, I feel like you're lying to me… You look like you're uncomfortable."

"I'm not lying, I'm asking you to come home with me!" Kunihiro scowled, tapping his fingers against his forearm in annoyance. Even when suffering from amnesia, his brother could be insufferably perceptive. What irritated Kunihiro the most was the concerned look in Tetsuhiro's eyes. Talking about their parents bothered Kunihiro, though he didn't know exactly why. He had never understood emotions as well as Tetsu, the more "human" of the two. In a way, Masaki had been right when he'd accused him of being incapable of love. That inability to process his own emotions, and sometimes even to feel them, roused jealousy in him towards his sibling. Tetsuhiro belonged at least in part to a world that Kunihiro would never be allowed into.

"You're upset," Tetsuhiro said. It wasn't a question. "Why are you upset?"

"I'm not. I just want you to come back."

"Why?"

"So Mom and Dad can fix you," it was Kunihiro's turn to falter. He had never been a good liar, and he didn't want to lie to Tetsuhiro. He knew very well that his parents had no intention of restoring his memories. They had waited for years to get a chance to reprogram Tetsuhiro once more, in an attempt to stamp out any traces of homosexuality or rebelliousness. They wanted him to be normal again, like he'd been before puberty made him act out against their rules. From the way they had spoken earlier, they were prepared to take extreme measures to do so. Kunihiro wanted to please his parents, whether because of his programming or because of some deeply-buried human instinct; he really didn't know. However, now he was conflicted. He knew that whatever they wanted to do, Tetsuhiro wouldn't like it.

For the first time in his life, he wasn't absolutely sure that his parents' will was the right course to follow.

"Can't you fix me?"

Kunihiro struggled for an answer. Before he could come up with anything, though, Tetsuhiro suddenly glanced back. "I hear Senpai calling me," he said.

"Wait, don't—"

"But he sounds angry," Tetsuhiro turned to his brother and smiled. "I should go see what's wrong. Can we talk later?"

"… Fine." He would need time to come up with a good cover story, anyway.

"OK, goodbye, then."

Tetsuhiro opened his eyes. Souichi was shaking him, causing his head to rock back and forth erratically. "-out of it right now, or so help me I'll-" he was saying.

"Senpai, what's wrong?"

"Oh, you're back…" he seemed a little out of breath, as if he'd been yelling and shaking Tetsuhiro's shoulders for a while. "What's with you? We have to go! The cleaning crew's coming soon."

"Sorry. I was talking to Kunihiro." Tetsuhiro set the now-dry dropper on the counter. Souichi picked it up and shoved it into a drawer.

"So he did call you. What did he say?"

"He says that he wants me to come with him to see our parents. He says they're worried."

"Psh. Yeah, right," Souichi scoffed. "You're not going anywhere with that guy."

"Why not?"

"I don't trust him! Can you blame me? After all, last time I saw him all he could talk about was how much trouble you were, and how glad he was to get rid of you!"

"H- he did?" Tetsuhiro looked very hurt at this. Souichi slapped himself on the forehead.

"Well, I mean, you two did make up and he apologized and all… But if your parents want to see you, it can't be anything good. Stay away from them, got it?"

"Why would it be bad to see my parents? Parents are supposed to be good, right?"

"Yeah, well…" Souichi couldn't think of anything to say. How could he tell Tetsuhiro that his own parents didn't give a rat's ass about him?

"Senpai?"

"Let's go get something to eat. You're hungry, right?"

"Ye-"

"Good. Let's go."

Tetsuhiro followed Souichi out of the room. Suddenly, Kunihiro's voice reached his mind: _"I'll come for you in a little while." _He turned once, just to make sure nobody else was behind him, then rushed to catch up to his senpai.

**TBC**

**The clock's ticking until Kunihiro comes to get Tetsu! Will he be able to bring himself to turn him in to their parents? Or will he even get the chance? Stay tuned! **


	13. A Romantic Night Out

**Notes: Whoo! Got another chapter done! **

Chapter 13: A Romantic Night Out

The low hum of hushed voices and the medley of clinking silverware and glasses met the two researchers when they entered the restaurant. Souichi had chosen the small diner because of its quiet atmosphere, but Tetsuhiro was awed by the surroundings. The muted maroon-red on the walls contrasted nicely with the white tile on the entryway floor and with the mahogany-toned furniture. Amber lighting set a romantic mood. "This is like the restaurant that Junichiro and Kikiyo went to on their date…" he muttered. Souichi shook his head—he was getting tired of the television references.

"Where the hell's the hostess?" Souichi grumbled, finding the podium deserted.

"Hostess?"

"The person who takes us to our seats," Souichi explained offhandedly, scanning the dining area for any sign of a staff member. A couple of waiters bobbed from table to table, but there was no sign of a host or hostess. "I'm going to find someone," the blonde said finally. "Stay here, Morinaga."

Tetsuhiro stood still as Souichi darted off to find someone to complain to. He didn't dare to move, not even when the door opened and a gust of wind blew his hair all around his face. His senpai had told him to stay where he was, so he was going to do just that. He didn't blink when an old woman hobbled to his side. When she said, "Excuse me…" he didn't even turn his head.

"Yes?" he asked, trying to swivel his eyeballs in her direction without shifting his head.

"Where is the host? Are you waiting for him, too?"

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, dear…" Curiosity compelled Tetsuhiro to turn his head slightly, just enough to see who he was talking to. She was indeed an old woman, stooped and wobbling as she leaned heavily on her cane. She looked exhausted.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just need to sit down… My daughter dropped me off here, so I can't go back to the car… Er, don't worry about it, young man."

Tetsuhiro frowned. This was a real dilemma. The old lady was tired and needed to sit; the host or hostess was the only person who could take her to a seat; the host or hostess was absent; there was no sign of Souichi; and he'd been told not to move. Still, he felt sorry for the woman. He always looked for a good solution to any problem presented to him, and at the moment the only solution to her problem would be to take her to a seat. However, that brought up another problem: Souichi had ordered him to stay put.

He turned this around in his head for a moment, always coming full circle to the original problem. Eventually, though, his compassion for the lady overwhelmed his drive to obey Souichi. Figuring that his senpai would do the same, since he was such a kind person, Tetsuhiro grabbed a menu from the podium and turned to the lady. "Follow me," he said. "I'll take you to a seat."

"Can you do that? Do you work here?" she asked, eyebrows arched in surprise.

"No, but I know how to do it. I've seen it done on TV."

The woman followed him into the dining area, smiling nervously and figuring that she had run into a mentally deficient man-child who had lost his attendant. He found a clean table in a quiet corner of the room, helped the woman into a chair, and handed her the menu. She thanked him, though she stared after him worriedly as he walked back through the room.

Tetsuhiro felt good about having helped the woman, but he knew he'd have to explain to Souichi. Just as he reached the waiting area, though, a waitress stopped him. "Hey, you're not in uniform," she said. "That's against the rules, you know."

"It… is?" he asked.

"Yeah, you'd better get back to the kitchen before the manager sees you."

Not knowing what else to do, Tetsuhiro shrugged and walked back towards the swinging doors.

Meanwhile, Souichi returned to the waiting area—he had scolded the manager quite thoroughly—only to find Tetsuhiro missing. "Dammit, Morinaga!" he stomped his foot, then took a deep breath. _"Probably went looking for the restroom," _he thought, calming down a bit. He couldn't jump to conclusions. He had told Tetsuhiro to stay in the waiting area, so there had to be a good reason for his absence.

"Table for one, Sir?" a chipper voice drew his attention to the podium; the hostess had returned.

"Two," he said, still scanning the dining area. "Go ahead and seat me, but if you see a black-haired, confused-looking guy about my age, lead him to my table, OK?"

"No problem," the hostess grabbed two menus and led Souichi to a table. Once he was seated, he kept glancing around the restaurant while tapping his foot. Tetsuhiro didn't appear until five minutes later—after Souichi had already ordered their drinks—and he didn't emerge from the restrooms. He came from the kitchen, balancing a tray of food in his hands. "Fuck…" Souichi mumbled, then stood and stalked towards his kouhai.

"Um, enjoy…" Tetsuhiro said to the recipients of the food. He felt very confused; the waitress had told him to go to the kitchen, and the kitchen staff had sent him back out to serve food. He couldn't very well tell them that he couldn't; for all he knew, this was what people did in this particular restaurant. He was just wondering where Souichi was when his senpai grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to a table by the front windows.

"_What the hell were you doing_?" Souichi hissed, dropping Tetsuhiro into a seat.

"There was this old woman standing in the entry way, and since she was tired I led her to a table. Then that person," he pointed to the waitress, who was making her rounds a section away, "told me to go to the kitchen. I did, but they…"

"Never mind…" Souichi rested his head in his hands; he should have known better than to leave the clueless cyborg alone. "Just drink your soda."

"Soda? Didn't you mention you wanted beer?"

"I'd love a beer," Souichi sighed, "but I need to stay sharp. You're too much trouble for me to get drunk and careless."

"Oh… Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it."

Dinner continued in a much calmer tone than the rest of the day. Breakfast had been an eternity ago; it had been a very, very long day for Souichi. Accused of robbery, practically arrested for assault and battery, hurtled through Nagoya like a bouncing rocket, nearly panicked to death because of a simple "phone call"… He tallied up the list in his head, though he failed to see how he hadn't gone insane yet. Because of the catastrophic reaction between an amnesiac Tetsuhiro and society in general, he was seriously considering keeping his kouhai locked up until Kunihiro arrived.

Tetsuhiro glanced at Souichi worriedly, but he kept his mouth shut. His senpai looked like he was deep in thought, and he didn't want to interrupt him. Looking around the restaurant, he took in the subtle hues of red and ivory. Soft music played in the background; it was very relaxing. Tetsuhiro found himself getting sleepy, and he lazily picked at the remainder of his dinner.

His ears, finely-tuned though they were, had been filtering out the drone of conversation around him. Still, he occasionally picked up a sentence here or there. At a table nearby, he heard a man talking to someone about the future. "I don't ever want to be apart from you," he said.

This caught Tetsuhiro's attention. He looked toward the source of the voice, and saw a young couple sitting close to each other. The two continued to talk, the woman replying breathily to the man's confessions of love and admiration. Tetsuhiro watched, enraptured, though he didn't know why he would be so fixated on the strangers. Finally, the man pulled a small box out of his pocket and presented it to the woman. She and Tetsuhiro both leaned forward. All of the cyborg's senses were tuned to the man and the small box.

This didn't escape Souichi's notice. "What is it?" he asked, following Tetsuhiro's gaze to the couple. "Morinaga? Hey, what are you staring at?"

Tetsuhiro didn't move. He held his breath. Time seemed to slow down, and then the earth stopped spinning as the man uttered four words: "Will you marry me?"

The young woman squealed with surprise and delight. Souichi whacked Tetsuhiro on the head, and he snapped out of his trance. "Hm?"

"I said, what the fuck are you staring at? What if they saw you and thought you were some kind of stalker or something?"

"Senpai, what were they doing?" Tetsuhiro ignored Souichi's scolding, turning back to the happy couple who were now holding hands and whispering to each other excitedly.

"He just proposed to her. They're getting married," Souichi shoved the last bite of steak into his mouth and pushed back his plate. "You ready to go?"

"What's married?"

"I'll explain later. Let's just go, already!"

Souichi dragged Tetsuhiro into the chilly night after leaving a stingy tip ("I should have just let you keep working!" Souichi said as he pulled Tetsuhiro through the door). His irritation mounted as they went further down the street; Tetsuhiro kept looking back as if he were pulled towards the restaurant. Once they got on the bus, Tetsuhiro stared out the window silently.

Souichi thought about saying something, but decided not to. It was Tetsuhiro who broke the silence, though. "Senpai, what does it mean to get married?"

"Ugh. This again?" the blonde yawned and stretched out his arms. It was already fairly late. "When two people get married, they enter into a legal union that binds them in matrimony. It's an economic arrangement."

"An economic arrangement?"

"Yeah. Well, and they get married when they're in love," Souichi yawned again. "Most people just get married for love, but it's a partnership, too."

"Ah, I see…" Tetsuhiro processed the information for a bit, turning it over in his mind. Then he asked, "What was the box that he had?"

"Oh, that was probably a ring box," Souichi replied absent-mindedly. "When two people are married, they wear rings to symbolize it. On the left ring finger, actually. Here," he pointed to Tetsuhiro's ring finger, which rested with the rest of his hand on his lap.

Tetsuhiro fell silent again. He stared down at the floor, ignoring the other passengers as they shuffled on and off at each stop. Souichi glanced over at him, his irritation mounting and mingling with worry. The cyborg seemed a little sorrowful.

"Senpai," Tetsuhiro's voice startled Souichi, "why do people get married?"

"I already told you. They want to stay together for the rest of their lives… or until they divorce," Souichi added the last part under his breath. Divorce was just one of the many things he disapproved of—a waste of legal resources and time, he thought.

"What's divorce?"

"It's when married people decide not to be married anymore. It's stupid, if you ask me. You should only bother to marry someone you're absolutely sure you love."

"Senpai…"

"Hm?" Souichi glanced back to Tetsuhiro, but frowned when they made eye contact. Tetsuhiro had a look in his eyes as if he were deadly serious about something. "What is it, Morinaga?"

"Senpai, will you… Oh, wait…" The next few seconds went by in slow-motion for Souichi. By the time he realized what Tetsuhiro intended, it was too late. The cyborg took both of Souichi's hands in his, looked into his eyes, and said, "Will you marry me?"

Souichi just reacted without thinking. He reached up and yanked on the brake cord, grabbed Tetsuhiro by the wrist, and shot off the bus amid several stares and shocked faces. They weren't quite to their stop yet, but Souichi kept running. When they reached a secluded area of suburbia, he dragged Tetsuhiro between two buildings and proceeded to slap him silly.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!" he screamed as his hand kept up the assault on Tetsuhiro's face. By the time he was feeling the sting in his palm, Tetsuhiro was already on the ground whimpering.

"I just…"

"NO EXCUSES!" the tyrant cut off his kouhai before any more could be said. "How could you just come out and say something like that? You don't know anything about marriage or anything else! Who the fuck asks something like that when they don't know anything about it?"

"But… you told me…"

"Marriage is for men and women only!" Souichi stomped to the mouth of the alley, making sure that nobody was around to hear them. It was rather late, so no pedestrians threatened his privacy.

"Men and women only?"

"Yeah. I can only get married to a woma-"

This time, Tetsuhiro interrupted Souichi. "No!" he cried, leaping forward and clutching onto Souichi with such strength that the blonde could barely breathe. "You can't! Who is the woman? You can't leave me for her!"

Though his first instinct was to hit him again, Souichi realized that there were tears in the younger man's eyes. "I'm not **going **to marry a woman!" he said, pushing Tetsuhiro off of him in exasperation. "I'm just saying that if I ever were to get married, it would have to be with a woman."

"Could I be a woman, Senpai?"

Souichi almost laughed. It was the most absurd thing he'd heard all day. "No," he said after a moment of grasping at his own sanity, "you can't be a woman."

"But… I want to stay with you…" Tetsuhiro's shoulders slumped. He looked absolutely heartbroken.

"Look, you can stay with me, just not by marriage. Things are fine the way they are, aren't they?"

"Yeah…"

"Then get your ass over here and let's go home."

Tetsuhiro sighed, then considered Souichi's words. Things were fine the way they were, as long as no women came along to steal his senpai. Smiling, he followed Souichi into the street.

**TBC**

**Let's hope that Tetsuhiro stays happy with the current situation, lest he gets any ideas… XD**


	14. Shower Pr0n

**Notes: More pointless filler, but a scene that I just had to put in. Enjoy! ^_^**

Chapter 14: Shower Porn

The door opened to a dark apartment. To Souichi, it was completely different than the one that they had left early that morning. Had it really been such a short time since then? Sighing, relieved to be home, he flicked on the light. Another headache emerged when he saw the remnants of breakfast still on the table. So much cereal…

Deciding that he was simply too exhausted to deal with the mess, he kicked off his shoes and trudged into the bathroom. "I'll be in the shower," he called to Tetsuhiro, but didn't care if he'd been heard. The aftershocks of such an active day were creeping up on him, and he yearned for the soothing stream of the shower. He disrobed and tossed his clothes towards the hamper—not exactly into it, but it was one more thing that was way off his radar at the moment. Soon he was under the piping hot spray, and he gave a groan of relief.

When he got out of the bathroom, towel around his waist and hair still dripping, he discovered that the dishes and food had vanished. "Hey, thanks for cleaning up," he called.

"Oh, um, you're welcome," Tetsuhiro replied from his room. He came out and froze when he saw Souichi standing there.

"What?" Souichi glared at him, knowing very well what was on his mind.

"I don't know… I feel weird down here," the taller man pointed to his own crotch. "Senpai, what's wrong with me?"

"It's a natural response, I suppose…" Souichi brushed past Tetsuhiro to get to his own room, but then paused. An idea had popped into his head. "That is, it's a natural response to seeing people nearly naked. It's actually bad for you."

"It is?"

"Yep, very bad for you," the blonde turned and appraised the slight bulge in Tetsuhiro's pants. "In fact, if you don't get that down right now, it might fall off."

"It will?" Tetsuhiro looked alarmed now. He clamped both hands to his groin and started to fidget. "Wh- what should I do? I don't want it to fall off; how will I go to the bathroom?"

"Don't worry, just put some ice on it…" Souichi didn't have time to clarify. Tetsuhiro was already in the kitchen and pouring ice down his pants.

"Yeek!" Tetsuhiro squealed as the freezing cubes tumbled into his underwear. Souichi actually laughed. It was a snorting, chortling laugh disguised hurriedly as a cough, but it was a sign of mirth nonetheless. It made him feel a little better.

"I meant, put some ice in a towel and put that between your legs," he said. Tetsuhiro looked stricken as he fished ice cubes out of his pants.

"Sorry, Senpai."

"Apologize to yourself. You're the one whose junk was almost frozen off."

"Sorry, Tetsuhiro."

"I didn't mean- ah, never mind…" The bad mood was back, so Souichi flopped onto the couch and grabbed a cigarette from the table. Realizing that it probably wasn't a good idea to sit around in a towel while the world's biggest pervert stood right there, he tossed the cigarette back onto the table and stormed into his room. He returned a moment later, reached for his favorite vice, lit it with the lighter he always kept with the pack, and took a long drag.

Tetsuhiro was still standing in the kitchen, seemingly at a loss for what to do now. "You should go take a shower," Souichi said after another puff.

"OK." Tetsuhiro left the room. There was blessed silence for a moment, and then, "Um, Senpai? How should I remove it?"

"R- remove it?" Souichi jumped to his feet. "Remove **what**?"

"The shower. Oh, and where should I take it?"

"Dammit, Morinaga!" Souichi stomped into the bathroom and found Tetsuhiro standing outside the shower. "I meant that you should shower! Bathe yourself!"

"Ah, of course! I saw people take baths on TV. But… where's the bath?"

"No, you don't take a bath. We don't have a bath," the blonde sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You take a shower. Bathe yourself in there," he pointed to the stall, "and get cleaned up."

"OK!" Tetsuhiro nodded, and then looked down at himself. "Let's see… I take off my clothes, right?"

"You got it." Souichi was already walking back to the living room. He sat back down on the couch and leaned forward to open his laptop. He heard the water turn on in the bathroom, and he relaxed a bit. At least that was one thing his amnesiac kouhai could do.

Time passed, though, and Souichi began to wonder about Tetsuhiro. He glanced at the digital clock sitting on the bookshelf—11:53 pm. He'd been in the shower for almost forty minutes. "Morinaga?" he called.

"Y- y- yessss?" a stuttering voice responded.

Souichi scrambled to his feet and dashed into the bathroom. Tetsuhiro was standing in the shower stall, curtain open to allow water to splash everywhere and his arms wrapped tightly around his chest. His lips were blue.

"What are you doing?!" Souichi reached in to feel the water; it was icy cold.

"I- I- I w- wassss t- t- tak- k- k- ing a sh- sh-"

"YOU MORON!" He reached into the shower and grabbed Tetsuhiro by the arm. Pulling him out, he hurried to wrap a towel around his kouhai. After turning off the water, he ushered Tetsuhiro into his room and practically threw him on the bed.

"Y- you didn't s- s- say how long I h- had to st- stand there…" Tetsuhiro's teeth chattered as he spoke.

"Didn't you even turn on the hot water?" Souichi busied himself with toweling Tetsuhiro off, heedless of the compromising situation he was in. Had Tetsuhiro had his wits about him, he probably would have initiated some romance. This didn't cross Souichi's mind. His mind was focused on getting Tetsuhiro warm and dry.

"I d- did," Tetsuhiro said, "b- but it g- got cold."

"You idiot…" Souichi grumbled, moving to vigorously rub Tetsuhiro's hair dry. "You absolute fucking numbskull."

"Sorry, Senpai… Did I do something wrong?"

"You bet your ass you did something wrong! A shower's only supposed to last like ten minutes, idiot!"

"Oh…"

"And you don't just stand there! Why didn't you use the shampoo or soap?"

"I didn't know how, but I didn't want to bother you…"

"Then why didn't you look it up online?"

"I did! But I couldn't find showering instructions involving soap. I only found out how to properly pose."

"I can't believe you couldn't find—wait, did you say 'pose'?"

Tetsuhiro nodded, his arm still raised though Souichi had paused in his drying mission. "Yes. I was doing well until I got too cold."

"How do you pose for a shower?" Souichi tossed the towel into his hamper, satisfied that Tetsuhiro was no longer soaked.

"Like this." When Souichi turned around, he nearly fell to the floor. Tetsuhiro was standing beside the bed, his arms arched over his head and his rear end sticking out provocatively.

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU SEE THAT?!" He could swear he felt his nose begin to bleed a little, he was blushing so hard. Tetsuhiro just looked at him.

"At latherup dot com," Tetsuhiro said in his usual matter-of-fact, I-don't-see-why-you're-so-upset, I-know-nothing-about-anything way.

"That sounds like a porn site!" Souichi moaned, pushing Tetsuhiro back onto the bed. "Don't you ever go there again!"

"OK. Sorry, Senpai."

"I guess it's fine… It's not like you know any better." He stretched out his arms and yawned. It was probably past midnight already. "I can't wait 'till your brother shows up…"

"He can fix me, right?"

"He'd better." Souichi grabbed a fistful of blanket and tossed it over Tetsuhiro. "Now go to sleep. I'm tired."

"Good night, Senpai," Tetsuhiro smiled as he settled into the covers. He was much warmer now, and it felt good to stretch out between the sheets. The smile still on his lips, he closed his eyes and almost immediately fell asleep.

Relieved, Souichi turned to walk to his own room… and then realized that he was already there. "Shit…" he mumbled. Briefly he considered waking Tetsuhiro and telling him to go to his own bed, but experience told him that it was very difficult to rouse a sleeping cyborg. He wasn't about to spend the night in Tetsuhiro's room, since he found it hard to settle down in a strange bed, so he said, "Ah, fuck it," and collapsed beside Tetsuhiro.

XXXXX

When Souichi woke up that next morning, he felt surprisingly refreshed. He yawned and cracked his jaw. Sunlight peeked through the blinds, and he reached up to scratch his head before realizing that he couldn't move his left arm.

Startled, he gasped and turned his head. It was only Tetsuhiro. He relaxed a bit, though he tried to wrest his arm from Tetsuhiro's grasp. His kouhai held on tightly. It was a terrible time to notice that the younger man was also naked and partly uncovered from the waist up. With his head resting on Souichi's shoulder, he held Souichi's arm in a strong grip despite the peaceful look on his face. He was still smiling gently, and he sighed contentedly as Souichi struggled to extricate himself.

"Morinaga," he said, trying to twist his arm away. "Hey, Morinaga! Hey! Wake up!"

With a small click resonating from somewhere deep in his brain, Tetsuhiro woke up. Souichi froze; he had never seen such a strange transition from sleep to wakefulness. Tetsuhiro's eyes, when opened at first, were blank. They were nothing more than dull green abysses. Within a split second, though, they lit up as two beams of light passed over them. Then they came into focus, and became normal again. All of this took place in less than a second, but Souichi still wondered why he had never noticed it before.

"Good morning, Senpai!" Tetsuhiro chirped. He continued to hold on to the captive arm.

"Let go!" Souichi jerked out of Tetsuhiro's grasp a little too enthusiastically. He fell out of bed, landing on his stomach with an "Omph!"

"Are you hurt?" Tetsuhiro asked, peering over the side of the bed.

"I'm fine…" Souichi stood up and brushed himself off. "Hey, how about some breakfast?"

"Sure!" Tetsuhiro said, and he jumped out of bed and marched into the kitchen.

Souichi would have been happy at the prospect of breakfast had he not glimpsed a flash of naked butt cheeks disappearing beyond the doorway. Almost crying in dismay, he rushed after his kouhai with the sheet in his hands, hoping that Kunihiro would appear soon.

**TBC**

**Don't worry; I promise the plot reappears soon! Please leave a comment on your way out; good, bad, I appreciate it! ^_^**


	15. What Schemes May Come

Chapter 15: What Schemes May Come

"_Tetsuhiro…" _

"_Huh?" _

"_Tell me, are you really happy?" _

"_What do you mean?" _

"_Does that psych- er, Tatsumi really make you happy?" _

"Hey! Morinaga!"

Tetsuhiro blinked and gazed at Souichi, who was looking at him warily.

"What gives? Were you goofing off on the internet or something?" the blonde asked, scrutinizing him carefully.

"Um…"

"Never mind. We have to hurry up, or we're walking today."

Tetsuhiro ate his few remaining bits of egg and rice, and then cleaned up while Souichi gathered paperwork. Once the dishes were rinsed and stacked, and once all of his notes were neatly tucked into his backpack, Souichi marched towards Tetsuhiro and grabbed his assistant by the shoulders. "Listen up," he said sternly. Tetsuhiro cocked his head to the side. "I want you to behave today. Understand?"

"Yes, Senpai!" Tetsuhiro smiled, but Souichi grabbed his face and forced him to look at him.

"I mean it! I don't want you to go farther than five meters away from me. BUT you are not to come within half a meter. There will be no hugging, no kissing, no hand-holding, no 'I love you, Senpai', no affection, and NO proposals of marriage!"

"O- OK…" The cyborg's face was beginning to hurt under the pressure of having his cheeks squeezed.

"Don't talk to anyone unless they talk to you, and DON'T mention anything about being a cyborg! If someone asks you something that you don't understand, tell them to ask me. If someone tells you that you're acting strangely, say that you're suffering from amnesia and you're currently in therapy. Now, you have class today…" Souichi sighed and released his death grip on Tetsuhiro to run a hand through his long hair. "Dammit, what about then… I can't keep you from class again… Shit…"

"Can you come to class with me?"

"No, I… Hmm…" Souichi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I could. But then they'll want to know if you've seen a doctor… I could always lie, but… Hmm…"

"Senpai?"

"What?"

"We'll miss the bus. We can figure it out later, OK?"

"Hm. Fine." Souichi followed Tetsuhiro onto the landing and down the stairs. It was true that as each day passed, Tetsuhiro seemed to regain more and more of his former intelligence. Perhaps he would be all right on his own. It was only three classes. He could go with him to each one and explain his absence last time. As Tetsuhiro's senpai he was allowed to do such things, especially since they were lab partners and he was technically responsible for the younger man. He had never before taken advantage of this situation unless it was to flout his authority, but now it seemed he could put his status to good use for both of them.

They made their way to the campus without incident. The bus driver did seem to remember them; when they boarded the bus, she gave them a smile that Souichi didn't like at all. Other than that, though, they managed to get to the science building without anyone staring at them.

Souichi led Tetsuhiro to an open classroom, where other students were already milling about and taking their seats. The old man at the teacher's desk didn't notice the two in the hallway as he shuffled through a stack of papers. "OK, this is Professor Fukushima's class," Souichi told his kouhai. "I'm going to come in with you and explain about your amnesia. Just take note of his lecture and do your best, all right?"

"I will, Senpai!" Tetsuhiro smiled and followed Souichi into the room. This time, they did get a few stares; some of the students had been present during the flying incident.

"Professor," Souichi said, drawing the teacher's attention. "Good morning."

"Ah, good morning, Tatsumi-kun!" Fukushima said heartily. "Morinaga-kun, good morning to you, too!"

Tetsuhiro bowed slightly but said nothing. "I actually have to talk to you about him," Souichi said, a bit nervous. What if he was asked to produce a doctor's note? "You see, he's recently had an accident. He, uh, fell out a window."

"Oh, my!" Fukushima rose out of his chair and addressed Tetsuhiro. "Are you OK?"

"He's fine," Souichi answered, "but it seems he's suffered some brain damage. He's been diagnosed with retrograde amnesia."

"How unusual… Falls don't often result in such a condition."

"Yes, well, his head's just soft," Souichi mumbled. "He's ready to attend class, but I wanted to let you know that if he acts strangely, it's only because of that…"

"Of course!" Fukushima put a hand on Tetsuhiro's shoulder. "I'll look after him, then. I assume you'll be escorting him to his other classes?"

"Yes, I will."

"Good! We can talk about that project, too, after class." He pushed lightly on Tetsuhiro's shoulder, indicating that he should move. Leading him to a seat in the second row, he said, "Now, then. This is your place, remember?"

"Ah… no…" Tetsuhiro's eyes never left Souichi. "Do you have to go?" he asked. His arms were crossed and his hands gripped his sleeves as he looked pitifully at Souichi. For the past few days—as long as he could remember—he had been constantly at Souichi's side. The thought of being left alone in public upset him a bit.

"Professor Fukushima's a nice man," Souichi said before he really thought about his words. Feeling stupid for reassuring Tetsuhiro as if he were a child, he turned away as his face went red. "I mean, you know… He's not crazy or…"

"Yes, I'm not going to eat you or anything." The professor didn't seem to mind Souichi's comment. He smiled reassuringly at Tetsuhiro.

Tetsuhiro sat down, oblivious to the other students staring at him. Souichi nodded to the professor and then left the classroom without looking back. He felt like an idiot. Tetsuhiro was a grown man; he could take care of himself. He would be just fine.

Half an hour later, though, that feeling of reassurance had crumbled slowly. As if buffeted by a powerful surf, Souichi's determination to act as normally as possible was taking some abuse. He found himself glancing at the laboratory door, thinking that at any moment he'd hear some sort of commotion. Perhaps a student would run in and announce that Tetsuhiro had hooked himself up to the classroom projector. Perhaps the professor would storm in and complain that Tetsuhiro had started talking to his calculator. Unlikely as these scenarios were, Souichi's worries only grew more and more outlandish as time went on.

Finally, he could take it no more. He put away his things, walked to Tetsuhiro's class, and peeked in through the long rectangular window in the door. Tetsuhiro was sitting in his seat, quietly listening to the professor's lecture. _"See? Nothing to worry about," _Souichi thought. _"Tch. I'm such a moron, coming all the way here… Look at him, sitting there completely normally. What the hell was I worried about, anyway?" _

Turning to walk away, Souichi resolved to put his fears to rest. However, he was barely halfway back to the lab when those fears resurfaced. _"Sure, he looks normal, but what if the professor asks him a question? I mean, not that that's likely, but still…" _In no time at all, he was back at the window. The professor was preparing to hook his laptop up to a projector, apparently about to show a video.

"Ah, I'm having trouble with this…" Fukushima said, "Does anyone know how to get one of these things running?"

Souichi's heart stopped when Tetsuhiro raised his hand. "I can help," the cyborg said.

"_Shit! That idiot's going to pull out those wires, isn't he? I TOLD him not to do that! Ah, what do I do? He's standing up… Dammit!" _

After a second of debate, Souichi decided to just barge in and stop him. Even if he looked like a madman, at least he'd preserve Tetsuhiro's identity. "MORINAGA!" he shouted as the door opened with a bang. Every student in the room jumped in his or her seat, most letting out yelps of surprise. The professor gave a start, but Tetsuhiro just looked up placidly from where he was connecting the laptop to the projector box. His head panel was closed.

"Ah… Tatsumi-kun?" Professor Fukushima said.

"What is it, Senpai?" Tetsuhiro asked.

For a moment, Souichi just stood there feeling like the world's biggest jackass. Then he cleared his throat and said, "I- ah, I was going over some things in the lab and realized that you failed to bring our notes from last time."

"You said we didn't need them."

"Huh. Did I? Well, then. Carry on." With as much dignity as he could muster, Souichi spun sharply on his heel and marched out of the room, closing the door behind him. He headed straight for the lab and stayed there until it was time to take Tetsuhiro to his next class.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Once Tetsuhiro had attended all of his classes, he accompanied Souichi back to the lab for a bit of work to finish up the day. They were well into the project before Tetsuhiro suddenly stopped and stared down at the petri dishes in front of him.

"Senpai," he said after a moment of contemplation.

"Hm?" Souichi was too into his work to notice that Tetsuhiro had stopped. He only halfway heard him.

"I feel like I've forgotten something."

"No shit." Souichi continued messing with the microscope, irritated at the interruption.

"No, I mean I feel like there was something I should remember about today. Today in particular…"

Souichi didn't answer this time. He honestly didn't care.

"There's a star on my calendar for today."

"Your calendar?"

"Yeah, I saw it when I checked this morning. I've been trying to remember all day, but I can't."

"What, you don't have a calendar in your head? Some kind of program?"

"I don't think so…"

"Huh. A pity. I was hoping you'd be my PDA."

"Public display of affection?"

"NO!" This time Souichi looked up from the microscope. It was just as well—were his glare physically powerful, the flimsy piece of equipment would have been in pieces by then. "Personal digital assistant! How the hell do you even KNOW that other term? I didn't even know we used it that way in Japanese!"

"I heard it on-"

"TV. Right…"

They were silent for a while as Souichi went back to work and Tetsuhiro went back to thinking. "I just don't remember what was special about today…"

"How the hell should I know?"

Souichi didn't think about it for the rest of the afternoon, nor did it cross his mind when they went out to eat dinner. It only popped into his head again on the bus ride home, as he watched Tetsuhiro watching the passing scenery out the window. He'd never noticed before, but Tetsuhiro had a habit of staring out windows whenever he was in a vehicle. He seemed to be lost in thought. Souichi figured he was trying to remember whatever it was he'd forgotten, though he knew it was useless. Whatever it was had been erased like everything else.

Still, Souichi did wonder. What if he'd had an appointment? Perhaps he had arranged to go see the mysterious doctor? What would happen if he missed a checkup or something? When Tetsuhiro had disappeared for two weeks after their first intimate encounter, Souichi had been forced to realize that he didn't know much about his assistant and only friend. Now that he knew Tetsuhiro's true identity, it was obvious that he knew even less than he'd thought.

The bus drove through the deepening twilight, carrying two young men who were caught up in their own thoughts. Neither of them had any idea what awaited them at their home.

**TBC**

**Well, it took long enough, but now I must leave you on a cliffhanger. Sorry! **


	16. It Hits the Fan

**Notes: Well, here's the next chapter! As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to everyone who's reading. You guys keep me going with your encouragement! As long as I'm entertaining someone, I'm happy! :D Swt Cutie, you guessed right, so you get cookies! XD Tyasia T, Guest, chickadeeyasee… thank you so much! **

**Oh, and to fullmoon: mi espanol es terrible, pero realmente aprecio tu comentario! Me alegra que te gusta la historia! (Umm… espero que mi discurso no es tan malo… Me parecio que era justo para mi tratar de). Since you took the trouble to translate the story, I'll take the trouble to try to reply to you! ^_^ You've reviewed a few times before, so sorry I didn't reply then. I've gotten a couple of reviews in Spanish from various people, and I always feel bad that I haven't said, "mucho gracias!" **

Chapter 16: It Hits the Fan

Somewhere far, far above the earth, a helium balloon climbed to the heavens. It went up and up and up, expanding as it did so. High above the clouds it soared, through the atmosphere, until the air was so thin the balloon couldn't take it anymore. Just before it burst into shreds of rubber, the string keeping the balloon tied became undone. With a fwoop of escaping gas, the balloon deflated and sank back towards the ground.

This was what Souichi imagined when he opened the apartment door that evening. The balloon was his anger, which was always ascending. The moment of imminent rupture was when the lights flickered on unbidden, and a chorus of voices yelled "Surprise!" The deflation was what he felt as he stood in the doorway, unable to speak and thinking that at last he had lost his sanity.

He stood absolutely still, Tetsuhiro behind him and curiously trying to look over his shoulder. They had invaded his apartment, probably with the spare key under the doormat: Kanako, Matsuda, Isogai, Tomoe, Kurokawa… and Soujin, his father. They were laughing and nodding to one another, satisfied that they'd pulled off the plan without a hitch. Souichi just kept on staring at them, almost not believing that they were here.

"Happy birthday, Souichi!" Soujin said, breaking the spell and clearing the buzzing sound from Souichi's ears.

"Uh… Yeah, thanks…" Souichi mumbled, allowing his father to pull him through the doorway.

"Were you surprised, Nii-san?" Kanako asked, handing Souichi a can of soda.

"Completely," Souichi said, taking the offered drink and wishing it was beer. The most surprising thing to him had been that it was his birthday. _"How the hell did I forget my own birthday?" _he thought, and almost simultaneously smacked himself mentally. _"Of course… Morinaga usually keeps track of things like this. And he did say today was marked on his calendar, didn't he? Just how dense am I?" _

Despite the shock of finding his family (plus Isogai and Kurokawa) all here and the irritation at himself for forgetting what day it was, Souichi was a bit flattered to receive so much attention. Birthdays in the family were usually a big deal, since it was an excuse for all of them to get together. The festive mood soon permeated Souichi's sour demeanor, and he found that he wasn't as angry to see them all as he'd thought he was.

Then Kanako asked, "Morinaga-san, are you feeling better?"

Souichi clamped his hand over Tetsuhiro's mouth and said, "He's fine, Kanako. Uh, he's just a bit… er…"

"What is it?" Matsuda asked. "Is something the matter?"

"Well…" Souichi gulped. Everyone was now staring at him, wondering why he was holding Tetsuhiro's mouth closed. "You see, everyone, ah… Morinaga's been… drinking today."

"Drinking?" Isogai asked incredulously.

"Yeah, he and another underclassman got tipsy on some spiked punch, so… Actually, I'm going to put him to bed."

The party guests watched in shocked silence as Souichi dragged Tetsuhiro into his room. "Stay in here for the rest of the night," Souichi said, his voice low and dangerously edged. "**Do. Not. Leave. This. Room.** Understand?"

"B- but why?" Tetsuhiro looked hurt. He had enjoyed seeing everyone so happy, even if he didn't know who they were.

"They can't find out about you having amnesia, OK? It just… I wouldn't know how to explain, and…"

"You don't want me to ruin your party," Tetsuhiro said, smiling a little. "That's OK. I'll stay out of your way, Senpai. Go have fun."

Souichi didn't know what to say. That simple statement made him feel horrible, like he was casting a starving child away from a banquet. "Look, it's not like they don't want to see you," he said, scratching at the base of his ponytail. "You're, uh, a bit like… family…"

"I am?"

"Yeah. It's just that I don't want them to worry. If they find out about that, then they might find out about you being a… Well, you know…"

"Find out about what?" Souichi and Tetsuhiro turned to see who had spoken. It was Kanako, peering in through the doorway. It hadn't been closed all the way. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear… Um, did you say that Morinaga-san has amnesia?"

"Shit…" Souichi sighed. The cat was out of the bag. Now Isogai was poking his head through the doorway, above Kanako's.

"What's this about amnesia?" he asked.

Souichi was trapped. Isogai had opened the door, and his family was staring at him again. Tetsuhiro was looking at him, searching for a signal to tell him what to do, but Souichi had no idea what to tell him.

If he told them the lie about Tetsuhiro falling out of a window and getting amnesia, then they'd be miffed that he hadn't mentioned it before. They would suspect something was amiss, and then he'd have Isogai grilling him (probably asking him questions similar to what the police had asked him the other day). He couldn't very well tell them about Tetsuhiro being a cyborg. And at the moment, he couldn't even think of a third option, meaning that in the end he only had one option left.

He was saved—or at least stalled—by the doorbell.

"I'll get it!" Souichi shouted, and barreled through his startled family. He opened the door with a bang. "Shit," he muttered when he realized there was now a brand-new hole in the wall. "Shit!" he shouted when he saw who was standing in the entryway.

"… Good evening to you, too," Kunihiro said. He was not in the mood to deal with Souichi, and he was even more irritated to see that there seemed to be a party going on.

"You have to go," Souichi said without any hesitation.

"I came here to see Tetsuhiro," Kunihiro scoffed. "Excuse me." He pushed his way inside, enraging Souichi. "Forgive the intrusion," he said to the confused guests. "I'm only here to see my brother."

"Nii-san?" Tetsuhiro emerged from his bedroom, looking a bit surprised. "I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow."

"I managed to get away early," the older cyborg said. "Is there someplace private where we can talk?"

"Uh… Senpai?" Tetsuhiro looked every bit as lost as Souichi felt. In less than fifteen minutes, everything had gone to hell.

"Come, Tetsuhiro," Kunihiro grabbed his brother's arm and led him into the bedroom that he'd just come from. He wanted to get Tetsuhiro out of this place as quickly as possible, even if he had to drag him through the window.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Souichi slammed the door and rushed towards the brothers. "Are you going to… er, you know…"

"Shush!" Kunihiro hissed. "That's none of your concern."

"The hell it isn't! I wanna be there when you… you know."

"Um… Was this a bad time for a party?" Soujin asked.

"No, this guy showed up ahead of schedule," Souichi said. "Look, it's complicated…"

"Just what the hell is going on here?" Isogai crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Kanako says that Mori-kun has been acting weird, we see that he's still acting strangely, you're acting like you're hiding something, his brother's here to do something that you apparently don't like, and we're all just confused as hell. I don't mean to pry—"

"Yes, you do!" Souichi grumbled.

"—but I think we're owed some explanation. Am I right in thinking that Morinaga's well-being is of concern to all of us?"

"Of course!" Kanako said. "Nii-san, if something's wrong with Morinaga-san, then we have a right to know, too!"

"That's right," Matsuda nodded in agreement.

"Nii-san, you act like there's something really bad going on, but you won't tell us. You've been moodier than usual, so please let us know if there's anything we can do!" Tomoe said.

Souichi blushed and looked down at his shoes. He was already caught, so why bother to play charades any more? "OK, look… Morinaga had an accident last week. He fell out the window there… And he got amnesia."

"Amnesia?" Soujin raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Amnesia. He doesn't remember much, only bits and pieces. His brother," he pointed to Kunihiro, who snorted in indignation at the rude gesture, "came with some photos to show him. Of his childhood and stuff. So… he was going to go show him those in hopes of jogging his memory."

"How awful!" Matsuda said.

"Why didn't you just say so in the first place?" Soujin asked. "Though… isn't it a bit overly optimistic to expect him to remember so much all of a sudden? You know with most recovered amnesiacs the memories come back on their own, and even then they may not all come back…"

"Well, you never know until you try," Souichi said. "Now, you," he turned to address Kunihiro. "Can't this wait until everyone goes home?"

"I suppose…" Kunihiro glared at Souichi, but the blonde man didn't pay him any attention.

As Souichi passed out snacks in an attempt to get everyone's mind off of this recent turn of events, Kunihiro glowered at Tetsuhiro. _"This is all your fault," _he said through their link.

"_What's my fault?" _Tetsuhiro replied silently. He nibbled on a cracker and looked up at Kunihiro from his seat on the floor.

"_This. You should never have told that psycho about who you are." _

"_Why not?"_

"_Because he erased your memories! If you weren't such a subservient little bastard, you would never have lost them in the first place!" _

"_But you can restore them, right? Don't you have them on a flash drive?" _

"_That was a lie, Tetsuhiro." _Kunihiro looked away from Tetsuhiro, staring out the window. He wasn't sure, but he thought he was feeling the tiniest bit of shame. _"Backing up human memories on a flash drive… How stupid do you have to be to believe that? I don't have your memories." _

"_Wh- what are you saying?" _

"… _They're all there, still inside you… You just need help finding them again." _

"_Why would you be here at all, then?"_

"_Because I'm taking you home with me!" _Kunihiro's stone-cold stare froze Tetsuhiro's blood. He was dead serious. _"You've proven that you can't be trusted to keep your own secrets. You were never, never supposed to let anyone know. Did you think our parents would let you stay on your own after this?"_

"_But…"_

"_And don't you say anything about it. Do you want to disrupt your boyfriend's party?" _Tetsuhiro bowed his head in resignation. Kunihiro smirked. _"I thought not. Once we get the chance, we're getting out of here."_

Before Tetsuhiro could protest, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Souichi was kneeling beside him, a look of concern on his face. "What's wrong?" he asked as Tetsuhiro's mind came fully back into what was happening around him.

"Senpai…"

"What? You're acting weird. What's wrong?"

Tetsuhiro glanced up at Kunihiro, who glared warningly at him. "Senpai, it's…" He looked back up at Souichi, deciding that he wasn't going to keep anything from him no matter what. The thought of being taken away from his senpai made him sick to his stomach with worry. "Kunihiro said that-"

"All right, everyone!" All attention was drawn to Isogai, who was sitting next to the TV. He had his camcorder plugged into it already. "In celebration of Souichi's birthday, here's a special treat for you! Now, I know that you've probably never seen our dear Sou-kun just cut loose and have fun for any amount of time…"

"Oh, is this…?" Tomoe gasped. He had a feeling that he knew what was coming up.

"Yep! Tomoe and Kurokawa, you've already seen this. But I think we all deserve to have a look, to praise our friend, brother, and son's more fun-loving side!"

Souichi stood, his fists clenching.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you… Souichi Tatsumi, in 'Karaoke Panic'!"

The video began to play. Souichi's eye began to twitch. All around, smiles broke out on the faces of the guests. Tomoe was already giggling. The birthday boy glared at Isogai, who was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "I'll get you," he seethed. "You bastard, I'll get you for this…!" He turned to Tetsuhiro, who was watching him rather than the video.

"Is something wrong?" Tetsuhiro asked.

"What a stupid question! Of course something's wrong!"

Tetsuhiro lowered his gaze, staring at the floor with a dazed expression. He was thinking of a way to make Souichi happy, but that seemed impossible now. Frantically, he tried to process the situation.

"Hey, you! You want to get me something for my birthday, then get me Isogai's head on a stake!"

Tetsuhiro looked up suddenly. His eyes flashed.

"That's what I need, a big-ass weapon to destroy this guy!"

Emerald green lit up and became bright red. Kunihiro glanced over and gasped.

"I wish you had an attack mode…" Souichi mumbled, flopping onto the couch. He was keenly feeling his own impotence, surrounded as he was by laughter.

The laughter abruptly stopped when the TV exploded in a shower of sparks and shrapnel.

**TBC**

**Well, we are quickly reaching the end of our little tale. There are still a couple more chapters to go, but thanks for sticking with me! I hope I don't disappoint you, but what happens next… Well, you'll just have to see! I felt like there was too much happening in this chapter at once, but my hubby said it works so I'll let you guys judge it as you will. Please let me know what you think!**

**Oh, and I'm thinking of making this into a fancomic. I'm not very good at adapting Takanaga's style, but let me know what you guys think. If I get any initiative to get off my ass (figuratively) and plop down on my ass to draw (literally), then I might post a few pages to Deviant Art. **


	17. Search and Destroy

**Notes: Ah, thank you as always to everyone who reviewed, faved, and read the last chapter! As you may know, we're coming to the end soon. I really, really love you guys, you know? Thanks for sticking with the story for so long! I know it takes me too much time to get new chapters out. Real life gets in the way a lot. I would hereby like to confer Medals of Patience to our anonymous guest, chickadeeyasee, Swt Cutie, fullmoon, Joli, Bunny2022 (or Tyasia T., if you prefer), Red Mynx, Hermina05, Charmsrule, Bloodyrose23, and Yaoi lover. I hope you like this chapter, too! ^_^ **

Chapter 17: Search and Destroy

The only sound in the small apartment was the pathetic fizzling of a destroyed television. Clearly visible was a small hole through what remained of the screen, and whatever had caused it had bored through the wall behind it. The bewildered guests could see through Souichi's bedroom, and beyond that there was another hole in the outside wall.

It was Soujin who first looked back to see where the blast of white light had come from, and when he did he let out a cry of shock. The others turned around and gasped, as well. At first Souichi thought they were all looking at him, but then he saw that their eyes were fixed on something beside and slightly behind him. Slowly, with a feeling of dread in his stomach, he turned and looked up.

They were looking at Tetsuhiro. Of course they were. Why wouldn't they, when he was standing there with his right arm extended. Why shouldn't they gasp and exclaim in horror, when there was a small metal tube on a little rod extended from the top of his forearm, like a narrow gun. It was aimed straight at Isogai, and came out of what appeared to be an open panel on Tetsuhiro's arm. The pupils of his eyes were glowing red, and looked eerie even in the well-lit room.

"M- M- Morinaga…!" Souichi stuttered.

"Tetsuhiro!" Kunihiro said, his tone something between anger and exasperation. He didn't know what to do about this; if he went to grab his brother, he'd most likely be torn in two. Unsure of who to be angry at, his gaze landed on Souichi. He glared. Of course it was his fault.

"Target acquired," Tetsuhiro said in a monotone. His face was stern, his brows furrowed and his eyes burning. "Taichirou Isogai, surrender peacefully and your death will be painless."

There was a palpable surge of alarm that rippled through the room. Souichi glanced at Kunihiro questioningly, his eyes wide in panic. "Did he mention that our father once worked for the military?" Kunihiro said in a deflated tone of voice.

"What the fuck is he doing?" Souichi asked. "Morinaga, stop it! Put that thing down, or away, or whatever!"

"You have ten seconds to surrender." Tetsuhiro never wavered.

"You told him that you wanted that guy's head on a stake, remember?" Kunihiro sighed. "Good going, psycho."

"Morinaga, stop it!"

It was then that Isogai took his ten second opportunity to run like a bat out of hell. He was out the door in half that time. As his frantic footsteps receded, a beeping noise emanated from Tetsuhiro's head. "Target out of sight. Refusal of surrender noted. Switching to search and destroy mode."

"I don't think so," Kunihiro said, stepping forward from where he'd been leaning against the wall. His sudden movement seemed to break the shock in the room. Kanako, Tomoe, and Kurokawa—carrying Matsuda over his shoulder—all rushed for the nearest bedroom. Soujin tried to grab Souichi, but his son brushed him off as he stood up.

"Stand aside," Tetsuhiro said when Kunihiro moved to block him from going out the door.

"Get out of attack mode right now." Kunihiro's voice was calm, but his fists were clenched in rage. "What were you thinking, doing this in front of people?"

"I've been given an order by my master."

"He is NOT your master!"

"He is my primary registered user," Tetsuhiro said, and his monotone seemed to ease up a bit. "I will do whatever I can to make Senpai happy. Now stand aside."

Souichi stood frozen, shocked by Tetsuhiro's determination. He couldn't make himself speak. Partially he was afraid of being blown to bits like his TV (though he didn't believe that Tetsuhiro would do such a thing, something told him that Kunihiro would be glad to do the deed if he drew attention to himself). Partially, he was just surprised that even in this state, Tetsuhiro could have some feeling. He was doing this for his sake? Ridiculous. He had to have some ulterior motive.

Without warning, Tetsuhiro turned and shot another blast of light at the window. It shattered instantly, taking some of the surrounding wall with it, and he leapt out into the night. Souichi and Soujin were rocked by the blast, and Soujin fell onto his rear, frozen in terror. "Damn!" Kunihiro punched the wall next to him, then turned to Souichi. "I should melt your legs off, you damned maniac!"

"M- me?! How the hell is this my fault!" Souichi growled, still coming out of a state of shock.

"Don't even get me started—you KNOW what you did. You know you shouldn't be trusted with my brother! That idiot…!"

"But I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Souichi shouted. "Why is he doing this? Won't he listen to anyone?"

"No, he's put himself in command mode."

"So what should I do? Won't the password snap him out of it?"

"Not if he's the one who initiated this. For some reason, he thinks that this is what you want. He thinks he's following your orders."

"So that means…" Souichi looked out the gaping hole in his living room, already unable to see where Tetsuhiro had gone. He ignored his father, who was clutching the leg of his jeans and asking him what the hell was going on.

"You have to talk to him," Kunihiro said, "but he won't listen to you. Not like this. I'll have to deactivate him temporarily."

"What?"

Kunihiro leapt out of the opening in the wall, catching himself on the power line leading from a nearby pole. He swung upward, jumped off of a light post, and disappeared.

"Get off of me!" Souichi kicked at his father, and then ran to the door. "I'll explain later, OK?" he said to the anxious faces peering from his bedroom. "Nobody call the police! If any neighbors ask, say that there was a gas leak or something! I have to go find Morinaga!" He ran out the door, slamming it behind him, as his family looked on in confusion.

XXXXX

Isogai shivered, wrapped his arms tightly around himself, and tried to calm his heaving breaths. He was hiding under the stairs of the apartment complex down the street, and hoping to every deity out there that he wasn't found. He didn't know what was going on, but he recognized a dangerous situation when he saw one. And when appliances started blowing up and people pointed things at him that most likely caused those appliances to blow, it was time to run. He wasn't sure what Tetsuhiro had meant when he'd said "your death will be painless", but he knew he didn't want to stick around to find out.

He didn't say a word when Souichi went rushing past him, calling for Tetsuhiro. He hoped that by staying as still and quiet as possible, he could wait until he had a chance to flag down a cab. He'd go back to his hotel, then, and leave first thing in the morning. Surely he was just a little buzzed and needed a good night's sleep.

This thought sustained him for a while, but then his spine froze when he heard footsteps coming up the sidewalk. He held his breath, nervous. Then he heard a familiar voice say, "Heat signature detected. Please identify yourself."

"Uh… I- I'm just a homeless guy," Isogai said while pinching his nose. "I don't want any trouble. Move on, please!"

Unfortunately, this wasn't a Looney Tunes clip. "Voice identified. Taichirou Isogai, step away from the building."

Isogai took off running, and Tetsuhiro was right on his heels. He managed to make it to a back alley before the cyborg slammed into him from behind. "HAGH!" The breath was knocked out of him as he hit the pavement, 150 pounds of flesh and steel on top of him. He managed to twist around to face Tetsuhiro, who was looking down at him with an utterly blank expression. His face was almost completely in shadow, but the red glow of his pupils burned brightly.

"M- Morinaga-kun…" Isogai stuttered, coughing a little. Tetsuhiro pinned him onto his back by the shoulders, then stuck his knee onto Isogai's chest. With his free hand, he swung back and raised his fist as if he were going to strike him. Instead, a square patch of skin on the top of his forearm slid back to reveal the strange tube that had supposedly obliterated the TV.

"H- h- hey, what gives?" Isogai laughed nervously. "I thought we were totally friends by now!"

"Senpai wants you dead," Tetsuhiro said bluntly.

"Well, h- he doesn't, really… You know, he w- was probably just k- kidding!"

"Senpai doesn't joke. He wants you dead."

"But he doesn't! Please!" The sandy-haired man struggled, trying to get Tetsuhiro into one of his expert holds. The boy was unyielding, though. It was as if his joints had locked up, because no matter how much pressure Isogai put on the arm pinning him down it just wouldn't fold. He barely managed to budge the younger man. "How are you doing this?" he panted, trying to kick Tetsuhiro. "I- I'm bigger than you! You shouldn't be this strong! Just what are you, anyway?"

Tetsuhiro didn't answer. He stared down at the panicked man with a look of determination hardening his features, but something in his mind was telling him to stop. He had never killed anyone before. As Isogai tried to barter for his freedom, Tetsuhiro's eyes softened. He lowered his arm. Isogai stopped pleading, his heart pounding but relief flooding his system.

"Yeah, let's just calm down," Isogai said. "You don't really want to kill me, do you?"

"I just… wanted to make Senpai… happy…" Tetsuhiro mumbled. The glow in his eyes faded until they were once more olive green. He slumped, defeated, and slid off of Isogai.

"I'm sure you do, but that's no way to do it. He was just exaggerating, you know?" Isogai sat up and put a hand on Tetsuhiro's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, kid!" Even though he had just come out of a near-death experience, Isogai felt bad for Tetsuhiro in a way. His cool, flippant attitude was returning. "Now, how about you explain what's going on? Just what… are you?"

"MORINAGA!" A shout came from the end of the alley. They both looked up to see Souichi running towards them, out of breath and red in the face. "You IDIOT!" he roared, leapt into the air, and came down with a flying kick to Tetsuhiro's face. The cyborg fell back, knocked out cold.

"Damn," Isogai said. "You're one abusive bastard."

"Abusive? He tried to kill you! He blew up my living room! So now you're blaming me for saving your life?"

"He wasn't going to do anything," Isogai said calmly. "He stopped himself."

"Senpai…" Tetsuhiro moaned from his prone position on the ground. Souichi stared down at him uncertainly.

"Get up, you idiot," he finally sighed. Tetsuhiro stood up, rubbing his head. "Let's go back and think of something to tell everyone."

"How about the truth?" Isogai said.

"Dammit…" Souichi had almost forgotten that Isogai was there.

Tetsuhiro walked closer to Souichi, his gaze lowered, and reached out a hand. "Senpai, I'm sorry…" he said. "I don't know what came over me. I just thought…" Just as his hand came close to Souichi's, he was knocked off of his feet and sent hurtling into the wall of the building next to them. He let out a cry of pain and alarm, and Souichi and Isogai turned to see Kunihiro coming towards them. His eyes weren't glowing, but he had his hand outstretched and his fingers spread.

"There you are!" he said angrily, stalking towards Tetsuhiro. "I can't believe I just had to stun my own brother. Now come with me so I can fix this whole mess."

"N- Nii-san?" Tetsuhiro was lying on his side, curled up against the brick wall, a tear in his shirt where Kunihiro's attack had hit his side. Souichi felt his rage building again when he saw a trickle of blood leak onto the concrete.

"You get away from him!" Souichi barked, stepping to block Kunihiro's advance. "I don't like that look. What are you planning to do, anyway? Can't you just install his memories right here?"

"Out of the way," Kunihiro backhanded Souichi hard across the face. Before he could make another move, though, Tetsuhiro was on him and his eyes were glowing brighter than ever.

"Don't you touch my Senpai!" he screamed. Kunihiro blocked a punch to his gut, then delivered one to Tetsuhiro's head. The younger Morinaga only stumbled a bit before recovering and ramming into Kunihiro, sending them both sprawling onto the ground. Isogai had grabbed Souichi to keep him from falling over, but now they both gripped each others' arms as they looked on. Their mouths dropped open when Kunihiro kicked Tetsuhiro off of him, slamming him into the wall again, and then leapt off of the ground. He disappeared onto the other building's rooftop.

Tetsuhiro pushed himself up again and jumped up to follow Kunihiro. Souichi and Isogai let go of each other and ran out of the alley, crossing the street to see what was going on on the roof. They could just barely see Kunihiro's outline against the sky, highlighted here and there by the street lights, as he ran across the roofs of the buildings, leaping across the gaps effortlessly. Tetsuhiro was in hot pursuit.

"Damn…" Isogai said.

"Yeah. Damn," Souichi agreed. Then they both sped down the sidewalk, following the two cyborgs.

**TBC**

**Woo! Got another chapter done! Sorry again that it took so long. Please don't forget to review; it takes like a second, and I really appreciate it! :D**


	18. Taken

**Ah, it feels good to be back! Here's the next chapter. I'm so sorry for making you guys wait... :'( If any of you are still here, or you stumble on this story after a long time, please know that I never forgot about you all! Life was just crazy for a bit, but now I'm back on track. **

Chapter 18: Taken

It didn't take long to find them. Souichi and Isogai halted their pursuit for only a moment when an explosion alerted them to the position of their quarry. Panting, legs aching, the two rushed to the source of the sound: the parking lot behind a one-story office building.

The thought that people might come at the commotion, that there was still a car or two parked nearby, was second in Souichi's mind. He just wanted to stop Kunihiro from killing his kouhai. After all, it wouldn't be fair to him; he'd had murder on his mind since Tetsuhiro blew up their TV.

"Looks like he cought him..." Isogai said. He was leaning against the corner of the building, panting heavily. "Man, they move too fast..."

"Morinaga!" Souichi shouted despite the ache in his lungs. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get back here!"

Tetsuhiro turned his head to look at Souichi, and Kunihiro took advantage of his distraction. He tackled him from the side, slamming him into the ground and holding him fast by the wrists. "Let me go!" Tetsuhiro cried, attempting to kick his brother off. It seemed Kunihiro was the physically stronger one, though. Rocking a bit from Tetsuhiro's attempts to throw him, he leaned down until their foreheads touched.

"Stay still," he said, almost calmly. "It'll be over in a second."

"NO!" This came from Souichi, who had gotten his second wind and rushed to the fighting pair. His foot connected harshly with Kunihiro's shoulder, but the cyborg didn't move a centimeter. He only looked up at Souichi with hatred in his eyes as the blonde man tried to pull him off his brother.

"You stay out of this," he hissed. "You've done enough damage!"

"Don't talk to Senpai that way!" Tetsuhiro growled, redoubling his efforts to break free.

"Shut up!" Kunihiro pressed down harder, until Tetsuhiro yelped in pain. "This is mostly your fault! Now let me take you back home, where you belong!"

"I - I don't want to go with you!" Tetsuhiro glared up at Kunihiro. There were tears in his eyes. "I want to stay with Senpai. Please, let me stay!"

Kunihiro didn't reply. He just stayed atop Tetsuhiro, holding him down and ignoring Souichi's continued efforts to push and pull him. His cold eyes betrayed little emotion, but something about his expression made Tetsuhiro stop his struggle. Souichi, sensing a change in the atmosphere, also released the older Morinaga and stood by, panting from exertion and dizzy from lack of oxygen.

"Nii-san..." there was something in those steely gray eyes... Sorrow? Regret? Tetsuhiro couldn't tell.

"You cry so easily..." Kunihiro said, almost too softly to be heard.

"I do?"

"You always have. Even when we were little..." Kunihiro sighed. "I always wondered what it felt like."

"Y- you've never cried, then?" Tetsuhiro's eyes were wide. "Never?"

"That's right. I have never been able to cry, since I was reborn into this body... You are lucky."

"Nii-san, I'm sorry..."

"Why are you sorry?" Kunihiro asked. "It's not your fault."

"I'm just sorry... I mean, I don't remember you now, but... I can't imagine..."

"Keep your pity to yourself," Kunihiro snarled suddenly, and Tetsuhiro was caught off guard again when he was suddenly lifted by his shoulders and slammed into the ground. "I don't need you to feel sorry for me! You're the pathetic one!"

"Hey, no need for that!" Souichi shouted, and again tried to kick Kunihiro in the side. The cyborg turned his gaze to Souichi, and the blonde felt as if his face was about to melt off just from the intensity of Kunihiro's loathing.

"YOU have no business here! Get out of here!" Kunihiro released Tetsuhiro and reared up to punch Souichi, whose world suddenly exploded in pain. He saw Kunihiro's eyes glowing red, heard Tetsuhiro shout, "SENPAI!", and then everything went dark and silent.

XXXXXX

When Souichi came to, he was lying on cold concrete and Isogai was shouting into his face. "Wakey-wakey! Hey! Souichi-kun! Sou-kun, wake- Oh, good!" the man smiled, laughing from relief. "You're awake. Great. Say, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Buzz off," Souichi knocked Isogai's hand away, groaning as he attempted to sit up and his head started pounding an agonizing drum solo. "Fuck... What happened?"

"Well, I'm not a doctor, but I'd say you got punched in the face by a robot," Isogai said. "Seriously, though, how do you feel? You were unconscious there for a bit..."

"Where are they?" Souichi made a second attempt to sit up, and this time it was a little less painful.

"Whoa, slow down," Isogai put a hand on his shoulder. "The ambulance should be here any second."

"I don't need one," Souichi mumbled, but he could already hear the sirens. He also noticed that there were a few people milling about on the far side of the parking lot. Kunihiro and Tetsuhiro were nowhere to be seen. "Where are they?"

"Well, uh..." Isogai rubbed the back of his head. He seemed reluctant to say anything, but Souichi didn't get the chance to threaten him. The paramedics were already rushing to his side.

He was assessed, loaded into the ambulance, and wholly annoyed by the time they were ready to go. He kept telling them that he didn't need to go to the hospital, but nobody listened to him. The word "concussion" was thrown around a few times. Before they closed the ambulance doors, though, he managed to shout to Isogai, "Tell me where they went!"

"Don't know," came the reply. "Mori-kun was taken away..."

The doors closed, and the world stopped spinning.


End file.
